This is God's wondrous world
and to my listening ears,
all nature sings and round me rings
the music of the spheres...
This is a verse from one of my favourite hymns, slightly altered from the version of my childhood, but still upholding the beauty of Creation with the capital "C." This said, Christians can also appreciate the practicality of the natural world in the intricate web of the small "c" created order.
Some of you may have seen the news piece a couple of nights ago about plans to avoid the catastrophic effects of another storm such as Sandy. This 1600 kilometre wide weather event devastated the US northeast and humbled New York City. There seems to be general agreement that subsequent storms are a matter of "when" rather than "if."
There is talk of multi-billion dollar storm barriers, but there is also discussion of natural solutions. One of the people interviewed named Kate Orff discussed what she called Oyster-tecture, the use of planned oyster beds to lessen the impact of waves and storm surges. These oyster beds also absorb pollutants http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/feb/03/1 I find all of this fascinating, and hopeful.
Another pointed out that over time all the marshes which once surrounded a developing NYC and its boroughs were filled in and paved over. Marshes also help mitigate the force of storms and are much cheaper to re-establish than building sea walls and storm barriers. And there was also discussion of planned retreat from sections of vulnerable seashore which should be buffering dunes rather than beach houses.
We aren't as inclined to hymns and songs about fierce weather events as part of Creation, or creation, but they are a reality as well. If we are humble enough we might learn from the earth and the sky and sea about what is best for us.
Thoughts?
I remember watching a film at the Ontario Science Centre which posited that much of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans in 2005 was due to the fact that the ring of marshes, trees and wetlands that used to lie on the outer ring of Louisiana were no longer there. They apparently acted as a buffer, slowing down storms as they approached the city.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of project in NYC sounds interesting. I hope they go with the naturtal options and not the man-made.