War in Ukraine: It’s Ecological Impact
The Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, on the southern coast of Ukraine, is a haven for migrating birds. More than 120,000 birds spend the winter flitting about its shores, and a multicolored spectrum of rare species — the white-tailed eagle, red-breasted merganser and black-winged stilt, to name just a few — nest among its protected waters and wetlands.
The reserve is also home to the endangered sandy blind mole rat, the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin, rare flowers, countless mollusks, dozens of species of fish — and, in recent weeks, an invading military. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/science/war-environmental-impact-ukraine.html
A month after the New York times report an online CNN article quoted a resident of Irpin, Anzhelika Kolomiec who said "We have a beautiful forest here, but this year there won't be any walks, there won't be any mushroom picking, there won't be berries. We are not allowed to go in because of mines and unexploded missiles.”
The same article also said that a friend of Anzheilka said, "Nature is, as we say, the 'poor sister,’ We think of nature last. First of all, we think about our lives and about the lives of our loved ones and our friends and other people, then we think about our homes and jobs, and so on, and then, at the end of the list, we think about nature.
"I believe we have a chance, despite the war, to make cardinal changes in our attitude towards nature, environmental protection, energy and our use of green resources."
May what we read here and see for ourselves in news reports about the war in Ukraine and about the global environmental challenges to our magnificent Planet be a profound wake up call for each of us. We can change our ways and respond to the cries of our suffering Earth. Every little or big action, every prayer we offer has an effect. There is reason for hope no matter how devastating the circumstances because hope is one of the great gifts from our loving, creative God.
Veronica Blake, SMR