The speakers were part of an event ISCN hosted entitled "The Environment and Us" on February 24.
"Many people feel a close connection to a higher power when they’re in a natural setting," said Margaret Henke of the Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment (OCICE).
Yet instead of acting gratefully, the actions of humans pose a direct threat to the environment. A recent article by Shaikh Sadullah Khan, Religious Director of the Islamic Center of Irvine, quotes research conducted by The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Their report indicates that human abuse of the environment has caused "irreversible changes that are degrading the natural processes that support life on Earth," impacting healthcare, hunger, and poverty.
In short, Henke says human activities threaten the Earth’s ability to sustain future generations. "Thousands of species are threatened by elimination," she said.
With apologies to Al Gore, that sounds like more than just an inconvenient truth.
Almost everyone has heard of global warming. But what does it mean exactly? It is not simply the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. Henke’s organization defines global warming as an abrupt fundamental breakdown in the Earth’s climate system that threatens all life on Earth. This breakdown directly affects natural weather-related events like heat waves and hurricanes, which then affect quality of life.
For her part, Henke does everything she can to save the environment. When going to the supermarket, Henke takes her own reusable canvas bags to bring groceries home in. When going out for a meal, Henke takes her own containers to bring home any leftovers. And when Henke’s within earshot, don’t even think about using the ‘S’ word – Styrofoam.
Henke also challenged people to think twice about buying bottled water because of the negative impact of plastic. In fact, Henke said the nation’s two top selling brands of bottled water, Aquafina and Dasani, are tap water. So in essence, many people are paying for water that is only as clean as they can get at home, and contributing to the world’s environmental problems on top of that.
Alison Loukeh, Water Conservation Coordinator for the city of Corona’s Department of Water and Power, said there is nothing wrong with tap water. "It’s what we should be drinking," Loukeh said during her presentation at the event.
Loukeh also talked about global warming. She said global warming is real and it means the state of California will "for sure get drier."
