February 2007

What do global warming and adoption have in common?

One of the heartbreaking memories I have from adopting our two sons from Vietnam was the memory of many little faces in the orphanage. How I wished that I could take them all home. What could I do for them?

In a very different scene, I am sitting in my living room with some friends talking about global warming. I heard of the possibility of extreme weather patterns like drought and flooding. The developed world has resources to cope with severe weather. The developing world, however, does not.

A drought could mean no harvest. Poverty is aggravated. Parents are faced with the heart-wrenching situation of being unable to feed their children. Other children may loose their parents to a flood. An unstable environment would result in more orphans.

How can we make a difference in these children’s lives? We could adopt a child. Or maybe ten children. But we can’t adopt them all. What about the rest of the children that remain in difficult circumstances?

I did some research and learned that the consumption of fossil fuels results in the production of carbon dioxide, CO2. These CO2 emissions lead to an increased green house effect. As sunlight warms the earth, the increased levels of CO2 increase the amount of heat that is retained in the earth’s atmosphere.

Fossil fuel consumption occurs not only when we drive our cars but also when we consume energy in the form of electricity and natural gas. These energy forms heat our homes and hot water and run our lights, refrigerators and ovens.

I came across a practical book entitled, You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money), 51 Easy Ways. I was drawn to the book because it helps me to actually DO something about global warming instead of just being aware of it. As an added incentive, the book claims that I can save around $2000 annually if I implement their suggestions!

I started by transitioning our home to compact fluorescent light bulbs. The first bulb did not get great reviews by my family. But we have found that the soft white compact fluorescent light bulbs produce light similar to the traditional incandescent light bulbs but at about 25% of the energy consumption!

At work, I volunteered to lead our cardboard recycling program. Recycling consumes less energy than producing products from raw material. Less energy consumption means less global warming.

I’ve also attempted to change my driving habits. My children wanted to see Charlotte’s Web at the movie theater. I planned ahead and packed a lunch that we ate at the church after Sunday school and then we went straight to the theater instead of driving back home for lunch.

This weekend, I’m planning to insulate the hot water pipes in the basement to reduce the energy it takes to heat our water.

As with many things in life, global warming is not a black and white issue as one friend shared with me. Some claim that parts of the scientific community who dissent from the politically correct opinions are being silenced.

The fervency with which some speak of global warming may lead us to believe it is THE issue that faces the global community. However, the Copenhagen Consensus , a conference of experts that prioritizes the world’s biggest challenges, ranked climate change 27th while ranking communicable diseases first and sanitation and water second.

Realizing that there are different views on global warming took some of my initial enthusiasm away. But there does seem to be a growing consensus that humans are causing global warming. And I hope and pray that what I do here will somehow keep the our planet healthy and fruitful and to help other countries to put food on the table, especially the table at the orphanage. I remember the words of Jesus, “…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

I’ll be thinking about that the next time I turn off the lights.

www.adoption-by-grace.com

Copyright 2007, Phil Wong.