Thanks at Thanksgiving, plus a little inspirational downtime

It seems appropriate this week of Thanksgiving to share our ways of giving thanks.  My family joins hands and sings a simple grace most nights as we gather around the table.

Evening is here
the board is spread
thanks be to God
who gives us bread

The one below  is longer, and we use it less often, but it's one of my favorites.  It captures so much in so few words, and I am thankful for the miracle of renewing life that provides my food, and for all the hands that touch it from seed to mouth.  It can be sung in a 4-part round.

For sun and rain
for grass and grain
for all who toil
on sea and soil
that we may eat
this daily food
we give our loving thanks to God.

Does anyone else have favorites?  Please share in the comments!

Inspirational downtime
When you're done with your dinner, your post-prandial walk, and as many games of Clue, charades and Bananagrams as you can handle for one evening, consider sharing some truly stunning scenery with your family.  It might even count for extra credit in earth science for your middle school relatives.

Several PA IPL members in State College recently attended a screening of the 93-minute video, HOME at Penn State.  The website description introduces the film in the paragraph below.  Reviews just call it "eye candy"   It's available in several languages, so choose the one you know best, or one you're learning. 

"Internationally renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand makes his feature directorial debut with this environmentally conscious documentary produced by Luc Besson, and narrated by Glenn Close. Shot in 54 countries and 120 locations over 217 days, Home presents the many wonders of planet Earth from an entirely aerial perspective. As such, we are afforded the unique opportunity to witness our changing environment from an entirely new vantage point. In our 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has hopelessly upset Mother Nature's delicate balance. Some experts claim that we have less than ten years to change our patterns of consumption and reverse the trend before the damage is irreversible. Produced to inspire action and encourage thoughtful debate, Home poses the prospect that unless we act quickly, we risk losing the only home we may ever have."

Arthus-Bertrand's website GoodPlanet has more stunning film related to the International Year of Forests.  A series of free photo-art posters are available for schools and others wanting to host educational events about forests.  They're gorgeous.  Would they spark inspiration, discussion, or prayer in the halls of your congregation's building?

A letter from Canadian faith leaders

A letter released on October 25, 2011 titled "Canadian Interfaith Call for Leadership and Action on Climate Change" is worth reading.  Excerpts appear in Canada's Embassy magazine here.  A PDF of the entire text can be downloaded from the national IPL website here. (Click on "read this important statement" just below the paragraph announcing the letter.)

The first paragraph states
"We, representatives of Canadian faith communities, are united in our conviction that the growing crisis of climate change needs to be met by solutions that draw upon the moral and spiritual resources of the world's religious traditions.  We recognize that at its root the unprecedented human contribution to climate change is symptomatic of a spiritual deficit: excessive self-interest, destructive competition, and greed have given rise to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption.  Humanity's relationship with the environment has become distorted by actions that compromise the welfare of future generations of life."

Paragraph 4 is my favorite as an inspiration for both speech and action by individuals, voices of faith, and communities of faith in our wider communities.
"All religious traditions uphold the nobility of the human spirit, calling us to seek moderation and service to the common good.  Such a vision empowers individuals to take responsibility for relationships with each other and our planet.  Indeed, our everyday choices about food, transportation, clothing and entertainment are all practical expressions of what we value.  At the same time, disconnections between our professed beliefs and our daily actions indicate our need for personal and collective awareness and transformation.  We need to seek coherence between our beliefs and our actions, so that our lives and consumption habits reflect our relationship with the rest of humanity and the Earth itself. "

Which parts speak to you?  Please use the comments to lead us to the writings within your own denomination or tradition that have inspired you to act on energy use and climate change!

COOL chants!

Since our "kickoff" was in State College, on a Temple-PSU game weekend, we had a small team of cheerleaders on the downtown streets in the couple of hours before kickoff.  The cheers (and pom-poms) were provided by Barbara Ballenger, and she has given me permission to share them here.  You may use them, too, but please credit Barb when you do.  High tosses, human pyramids, and back handsprings are optional, but attention-getting! (If you're not sure it enhances the message, check out this 2 minute video of rapping climate scientists  -- use the closed captions to catch the lyrics.)

Cricket's elementary and middle-school daughters have been caught chanting several of these to themselves around the house in the last year.  Neither is interested in cheerleading normally...

Ready! OK!

I say … you say

·      I say Pennsyl, you say vania…

Pennsyl … vania; Pennsyl … vania

·      I say inter  you say faith

·      I say power and you say light….

·      Put it together and say it right – Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light

Climate Change Cadence 

I don’t know but I’ve been told (echo)

The North Pole isn’t very cold

The Polar bears are really steamed

Had to buy an ice machine

Sound off…1 2 

Sound off … 3 4 

Take it on down  1 2 3 4, 1 2 3-4

It’s hot in hell or so they say…
I’ll tell you how it got that way
Lucifer that blind old fool
Runs the place on fossil fuel
Sound off …

So do something and do it well …

Join the PA  IPL

Make your carbon footprint small

So there’s a little left for all

Sound off

Lean to the left…

Lean to the left lean to the right

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light

People of faith come join the fight

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light

Win one for the planet

Hey Pennsylvania!
The earth can’t take it.
Win one for the planet
Before we bake it.  (repeat)

It’s Hot

It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot out here

There’s green house gases in the atmosphere!

It’s not, it’s not, it’s not a lie

The temperature is on the rise.

It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot out here

Green house gases in the atmosphere

It’s not, its not, it’s not so nice

Antarctica is losing ice.

It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot out here

There’s green house gases in the atmosphere

It’s not, it’s not, it’s not a blast

Climate change will cook your … grass

I’m just saying … 

I’m just saying, I’m not lying
Mother Earth is really frying
We can’t let it end this way
Got to reverse climate change

Push it back, push it back 
Way back, way back  2x

I’m just saying, I’m not lying
Congress isn’t even trying
Who’ll run our economy
When we’re all floating in the sea?

Push it back, push it back 

Way back, way back …

Ain’t no Power

Ain’t no power like the power of the people

Cause the power of the people don’t stop! uh!

Ain’t no power like the power of the sun

Cause the power of the sun don’t stop! uh!

Ain’t no power like the power of the wind

Cause the power of the wind don’t stop! uh!

Children's Message: Footprints

Yesterday, for our Annual Meeting and conference, PA IPL member University Mennonite Church hosted the worship service.  Following the opening hymns, Bethany Spicher Schonberg offered a fantastic children's message that could be used in many contexts and any faith community.   On request, she wrote it up for us.  I hope many of you will use it!

Footprints on the Earth: Helping Children Understand Environmental Impact

Materials needed: a globe, a giant boot, a tiny toy shoe (the one from Monopoly works great)

Show children the globe. What do you see here? A globe, yes. This is a way for us to imagine the world - the earth - because the real one is too big for us to see! We're sitting on the earth right now, right about here. Show location on the globe. Who made this earth that we're sitting on? Who made the light, the sky and oceans, trees and animals and all the continents that we see on the globe here? God did. And God gave this earth to us to care for and to walk on.

Now, there are two ways that we can walk on this earth. We can walk in big shoes or little shoes. Show two shoes. If I were to step in the mud with this shoe (show giant boot), what sort of footprint would I make? And what if I stepped in the mud with this shoe (show tiny shoe)? If I were trying to walk around this globe here, what shoes would work best? What if I wanted to dance on this globe? 

It's the same with the real earth. Whenever we use something on the earth - like water - we're making a footprint. And whenever we throw something away - like a piece of paper - we're making a footprint. We can make big footprints or little footprints. So, here's a test. If I turned on the water and let it run for an hour, is that a big or little footprint? What if I turned on the water just long enough to get a drink? And if I colored on ten pieces of paper and then threw them all away, is that a big or little footprint? What if I colored on one piece, turned it over and used the other side and then recycled the paper?

This week, whenever you use something from the earth or throw something away, think about your footprint on the earth. Is it a big stomping footprint or a little dancing footprint? God gave us the earth to walk on and God can teach us to walk in smaller shoes.

Close with a prayer.  

Micah and Bethany Spicher Schonberg
Plowshare Produce
www.plowshareproduce.com

One Year

Here at PA IPL we are preparing for our 1-year anniversary.  To celebrate, Barb Ballenger has given us permission to share her delightful song lyrics from our big Kickoff weekend in 2010.  Please feel free to use them, but, of course, credit where credit is due.  Look for her cheers next week...

The Climate is a-Changing

(To the tune of The Times They are a-Changing, By Bob Dylan)

Come gather round people wherever you roam    

And admit that the sea levels you have grown.

And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone

If the planet to you is worth saving.

You better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone,

Cause the climate is a-changing.

Come scientists, pragmatists, beautiful minds

And add up the numbers a couple more times

While Congress ignores all the obvious signs

That we can’t win the game we’ve been playing.

Cause the temperature’s rising along with tides

And the climate is a changing

Come all you deniers and stand on the on the shore

Of an island that soon won’t be there anymore

And try to believe it’s a stunt by Al Gore

To make all the wealthy start paying.

Tell me how do things look from the new ocean floor?

Cause the climate is a changing

Come people of prayer and people of faith

Tell me how will you look own God in the face

When asked why we made such a mess of the place?

Did you stand like a prophet a raging,

Or did you step on the gas just to keep up the pace?

While the climate was a -changing?

Come mothers and fathers from throughout the land

Tell me what did you help your kids to understand

About the true cost of the purchase at hand?

Did you teach them the earth is worth saving?

Do they realize things won’t work out like they planned

If the climate keeps a-changing?

Now people of conscience and people of creed

Who cannot ignore how the earth cries with need

And who see what’s connected to all of this greed

It’s time that we began engaging

With people who long to reverse the degree

Of the climate that is changing.

The Cycle Round  -- this one is great for a bike-to-worship celebration!

(sung to the tune of "Don't throw your trash in my backyard")

I. Don’t park your car in my driveway, my driveway, my driveway, don’t park your car in my driveway, my driveway’s full.

II. With one bicycle, two bicycles, three bicycles, four bicycles, fives bicycles, six bicycles and one built for two.

III.  Idling in traffic jams, traffic jams, traffic jams

Idling in traffic jams won’t get you very far. 

The Little Light of Mine

·       This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine …

·       Don’t need no ‘lectricity, I’m gonna let it shine…

·       To shed some light on climate change, I’m gonna

·       To build a world we can sustain, I’m gonna …

·       Put it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine

·       Ain’t no one gonna “poof” it out….

Sowing on the Mountain

(Guy Carawan, George Tucker)

Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley

Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley

Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley

You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.

Look at what their greed has done to our mountains…

You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.

Look at what their oil has done to our ocean.

You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.

Look at what our factories have done to our atmosphere…

You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.

Things are gonna change cause

There’s power in the people… 

You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.  

 The Garden Song

(Dave Mallet, Pete Seeger)

 

Inch by inch, row by row / gonna make my garden grow. /All it takes is rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground. Inch by inch, row, by row/ someone bless the seeds I sow. Someone warm them from below till the rain comes tumbling down.

Pulling weeds and picking stones/ We are made of dreams and bones. Need a place to call my own for the time is near at thand. Grain for grain, sun and rain, find a way trough nature’s chain

From my body and my brain to the music of the land.

Plant your rows straight and long.  Temper them with prayers and song. Mother earth will make you strong if you give her loving care. And old crow watching hungrily from his perch in yonder tree. In my garden I’m as free as that feathered thief up there.

 

For the Beauty of the Earth

(FS Pierpoint and Conrad Kocher)

For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the sky

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies

God of all to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour

Of the day and of the night.

Hill and vale and tree and flower

Sun and moon and stars of night

God of all to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love

Brother, sister, parent, child

Friends on earth and friends above

For all gentle thoughts and mild

God of all to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of thine

To our race so freely given

For thy constant love divine

Peace on earth and joy in heaven

God of all to thee we raise 

This our hymn of grateful praise.

Nothing more than nothing

During lunch at PSU IPL's  Positively Green event, Cricket Hunter read this story, which someone passed on to her many years ago.  If anyone recognizes it, please let us know so that we can properly attribute it.

"Tell me the weight of a snowflake" a coalmouse asked a wild dove.

"Nothing more than nothing" was the answer.

"In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story" the coalmouse said.  "I sat on a fir branch close to the trunk when it began to snow; not heavily, not in a raging blizzard, no, just like in a dream, without any violence.  Since I didn't have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch.  Their number was exactly 3,471,952.  When the next snowflake dropped onto the branch -- nothing more than nothing -- as you say -- the branch broke off."


Having said that, the coalmouse fled away.  


The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for a while and finally said to herself "Perhaps there is only one person's prayer lacking for peace to come to the world."

Cricket adds: the small choices I make daily and weekly to reduce my impact on the world are my prayers, my contributions to a healthier climate.  Today I hung the clothes on racks in my living room, and my family and I are using only cold water in the handwashing sink during Lent.  What were your snowflakes today?

A Baha'i Perspective

Bill Sharp generously shared these words with us at the Interfaith Convocation service, teaching us first a bit about Baha'is, and then sharing exerpts from texts with his thoughts.
 
Bahá’ís are followers of the nineteenth century Persian teacher Bahá’u’lláh who spent most of his life in exile and his last days in what is now northern Israel where the Bahá’í World Center is located.  Today a terrace of gardens ascends Mount Carmel at the place he designated for the seat of a council that guides a virtual global Bahá’í congregation.
 

The Bahá’í Faith has roots in Shi’a Islam and the Sufi tradition but is an independent world religion with members in most of the world’s countries.

Bahá’ís believe that Bahá’u’lláh’s spiritual role is to confirms the message found in Genesis (chp. 45) that God will never leave or forsake the human race.  We call this Progressive Revelation.  Bahá’u’lláh said that his mission was to provide teachings for the emergence and eventual spiritual transformation of the modern world.

We are here in an interfaith gathering.  Let me recite a passage from Bahá’u’lláh that speaks to the importance of such meetings: 

“… [C]onsort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship, to proclaim that which the Speaker on Sinai hath set forth, to observe fairness in all matters.

“They that are endued with sincerity and faithfulness should associate with all the peoples and kindreds of the earth with joy and radiance, inasmuch as consort­ing with people hath promoted and will continue to promote unity and concord, which in turn are conducive to the maintenance of order in the world and to the regeneration of nations.  Blessed are such as hold fast to the cord of kindliness and tender mercy and are free from animosity and hatred.”

There is another reason I am privileged to be here tonight.  My belief is that we are meant to live well and prosper physically and spiritually in this world, and germane to this is a statement from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of the World: 

In regards to “… that which is conducive to the advancement of mankind and to the reconstruction of the world:”

First:  “It is incumbent upon the minister of the House of Justice to promote the Lesser Peace ….  This matter is imperative and absolutely essential inasmuch as hostilities and conflict lie at the root of affliction and calamity.”

Second:  “Languages must be reduced to one common [auxiliary] language to be taught in all the schools of the world.”

Third:  “It behooveth man to adhere tenaciously unto that which will promote fellowship, kindliness and unity.”

Fourth:  “Everyone, whether man or woman, should hand over to a trusted person a portion of what he or she earneth through trade, agriculture or other occupations for training and education of children….”

Fifth:  “Special regard must be paid to agriculture.  Although it hath been mentioned in the fifth place, unquestionably it precedes the others.”

This fifth passage is relevant to me because my vocation is sustainability and because my attention increasingly turns to how we draw sustenance from God’s Good Earth. This sentiment was echoed by an American contemporary of Bahá’u’lláh’s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said:  “Every man has an exceptional respect for tillage, and a feeling that this is the original calling of his race.”

At the heart of such passages is our respect for sustainability.  To Bahá’ís, how we live during our time on the Earth is as important to our spiritual development as the life in the womb is to our physical development.  

God created us to know and worship Him.  The Earth seems to have been created to support life as we know it for many millions of years to come.  Untold generations to be born will share our destiny of reverence to God and right living only if we fulfill our duty to God, and to them, to be good stewards. 

Emerson also wrote that fortunate is the man or woman who is awakened to worship by nature.  I believe that this worship is founded in the gratitude we each feel for God’s bounty of land and water and sun.  It is found in the work we do as well.  Bahá’u’lláh said that work performed in the spirit of service is worship.  Much of our work today, perhaps the most important work we have to do, is to preserve the bounty of the Earth.

I believe that we are meant to live well, to live in community, to live in peace and to prosper on the land, to draw from it, as Bahá’u’lláh said in a letter to physicians, not only our subsistence, but our health.  To do that we must learn to live sustainably, that is, to live within the means God has provided for our own well being and for that of all generations to come.  The future thus starts in the present moment.  It lies in our hands.

Changing Our Climate: an Op-Ed by Rabbi Daniel Swartz

Our climate is changing – both literally and figuratively.  The list of weather events that may be linked to changes in the global climate is already long, and it keeps growing longer with each passing season.  Droughts, floods, record-breaking heat waves, fires, even monster snow storms are all signs that climate change is part of our present, not just our future.

But the “climate” is changing in other ways as well. Many have been focusing on negative changes – the climate of acrimony and vitriol in political discourse, or the still sour economic climate.  But there are some positive “climactic” changes as well.  For me, one of the most significant is the growing involvement of faith communities around the globe in addressing environmental concerns, including global climate change.

How is something that seems intensely scientific, like the changing composition of our atmosphere, or intensely political, like global treaties dealing with use of fossil fuels, a faith issue?  Prayers don’t yield scientific data – but once science tells us what IS happening, our faith traditions can help us figure out what we OUGHT to do about it.  And while even a close reading of such traditions won’t reveal a detailed energy policy, certain basic guiding principles are shared by many faith communities.

For example, our world is good – one might even say “very good” – and we are supposed to help tend it and protect it.  It is simple wrong to think selfishly only of ourselves and to ignore the needs of generations to come.  Making money should not be the ultimate goal of humanity – we are meant to look after each other, particularly those who need the most protection – the “widow, the orphan and the stranger” or the “least of these.” Finally, one can find even in quite ancient sources an understanding that it is better to prevent harm than to try to repair damage after it has occurred. 

Taken together, such principles do at the least suggest a course of action to address climate change.  Solutions that especially benefit the poor, like increasing energy efficiency and thus reducing the disproportionate burden from high energy costs that those in economic straights face, should be a top priority.  Even in the present political climate, it should be possible to forge tax incentives and the like to make our homes and businesses more energy efficient.

We also should take the needs of future generations into account by promoting clean and sustainable energy sources – which, as was noted in the State of the Union, also can be a wise investment in the future of our economy.  Last but certainly not least, attempts to strip EPA of its power to address CO2 emissions and thus protect public health and the environment from the various ravages of climate change is not only short-sighted, but could be viewed as immoral.

But does thinking of climate change from a faith and moral perspective actually make a difference?  After all, you don’t have to be religious to think that fairness is a good thing.  A faith perspective, however, brings not only a sense of moral authority to an issue – it also can move us beyond paralysis.  Looking at the scientific and political difficulties facing any attempts to address global climate change, one can feel downright depressed and overwhelmed – and so there is a natural tendency to want to ignore or deny the whole thing, to remain stuck with our head in the sand.  But understanding that we can bring our faith to bear on this issue first of all fills us with the added strength of knowing we are doing the right thing.  And because faith has so often triumphed against great odds – worse odds by far than those facing a lasting and just solution to climate change – we can begin to replace depression with hope, paralysis with sustained action for the good. 

That is why this weekend (February 11-13^th) Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light is joining with IPL affiliates across the country in sponsoring a “preach-in” on climate change.  I’ll be addressing these concerns from a Jewish standpoint at Temple Hesed this Friday, and others across the state and nation will be doing so from a wide variety of other faith traditions.  Because we already know that the climate is changing – and we know what type of solutions are needed. The only question that remains is – do we have enough faith to make it into a change for the better?

And the children shall lead us...

Alana, a fifth grader in Scranton, PA, and an active member of dad Rabbi Daniel's congregation, wrote the following essay for the 2010 national writing contest sponsored by the PTA.  This year's theme for the "Reflections" contest was "Together We Can."  I'll let her challenge you to think about how you can reach out with others so that... together we can survive.

If you're interested in learning more about global warming and the impact of warmer, more acidic waters on reefs and fisheries, you can start with the National Wildlife Federation or Science Daily.  Please also consider asking your faith leaders to join others in Pennsylvania and across the country to speak about global warming during the national Preach-in.  Faith- and denomination-specific resources are available on the website, but please be aware that Pennsylvania has its own letter.

Hi – I’m a coral reef.  I’d like to tell you some information about the reef and the animals that surround and live in me.  Many people don’t know that a coral reef and its animals work together.  I’m going to tell you how in coral reefs, different species benefit each other almost all the time.  Without the plants and animals working together, I can’t survive, nor can they survive either. Coral reefs do many important things.

The reef even helps you too.  Without me, the population of people would be smaller.  You ask me how this is possible? I help you find medicines for people that are ill.  In fact, hundreds and hundreds of cures come from me! Another way that I help humankind is that I give you fish.  Over a billion people get some or even all their food (seafood) from reefs like me.  Also coral reefs protect almost all tropical coasts from dangerous waves and storms at sea. Coral reefs also give people happiness and jewels. Coral reefs make people wonder what the world was like long ago, and I give them some answers. Scientists visit me to find clues of the past, like fossils bones or shipwrecks.

Did you know that coral reefs have been going strong for over 60 million years?  That’s because of our cooperation together. Slowly the coral grows. Each of the thousands of little coral animals that make up the reef build a bit more of their hard coral home. Then more fish come.  Layers and layers of coral, animals and plants build up and finally together, we can all become a beautiful, giant healthy reef! That’s how I’m formed, though that’s not all of the cooperation that goes on around here.

A reef is not a reef without all the other animals and plants. Did you know that I give homes to most of the fish and animals, and in return, they protect me from harm? One example of how reefs work together with the animals is when I work with fish called convict tangs, which are vegetarians.  They nibble away seaweeds that will hurt me.  They get tasty food and I get protected. My most important partners are microscopic algae, tiny plants that live inside the tissues of each little coral animal. The algae use sunlight to produce sugar, and that sugar is one of my main food sources.

Now I’ll tell you how the other animals and fish work together. Did you know that gobies often share their coral reef homes with bulldozer shrimp? The shrimps are nearly blind, so whenever the bulldozer shrimp ventures out of its burrow, it keeps at least one antennae on the goby. The goby helps the bulldozer shrimp with just a wave of its tail. The goby alerts the shrimp of approaching predators.  Because of this warning, the shrimp can hide in time, before it gets eaten.  In a way, the shrimp gets a bodyguard, and in return, the goby gets a neat, hygienic home without lifting a fin.

Another way that fish work together is when it’s time for a dentist appointment. I know what you’re thinking – fish don’t get dentist appointments!  But in this case, they do.  A cleaner wrasse swims right into the customers (fish’s) mouth to feed on the parasites stuck on the fish’s teeth or gums. The “customer” gets rids of the parasites, and the cleaner wrasse gets a delicious meal, at least in the cleaner wrasse’s opinion. Stuff like this takes a lot of trust!  When was the last time you swam into another person’s mouth to get food?

You know how earlier I was talking about the convict tangs?  If too many are fished out, I can’t survive.  That’s why it’s very important not to overfish.  Almost all the time, you can’t tell which animals you truly need until it is too late. Same thing with the algae – without it, I would not be able to survive.  And without me, the fish that live in and around me would also not be able to live.  It’s like life in the reef is a big chain, all connected together.  All the time someone depends on someone else’s help.  Break the chain, and many species won’t be able to survive.

Many reefs around the world are dying from ocean warming and pollution.  When the ocean gets too warm, the algae in me dies, and if it doesn’t come back quickly, I will starve to death.  I will become a ghostly white. Oceans are getting warmer because people are burning fossil fuels, producing carbon dioxide, which warms the whole planet.  Some reefs are being choked by plastic trash that collects in ocean currents. Did you know that if people don’t stop polluting the world so much that in about in 30 years there will be barely any reefs left? That means that many species in the whole world will be extinct. Some people will lose their jobs and then a whole depression could start all over again. Another problem that could happen is some of the birds that eat the reef’s fish may not survive either. It would disrupt the whole ecosystem.

  But there are many things you and your friends can do together to help make me healthier again – like not wasting energy and making sure to use less plastic and to recycle it more. Together we can make a difference -- the information I told you, together with your actions, could stop all these problems -- and the other reefs and I can be restored.

This is the end of my small essay of information on the coral reef.  These were just a few of the many examples of how a coral reef works together.  Because together we can survive.