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Tag: eco-theology

Green Junction: The Treacherous Reality of Tree Loss By Julie Peller Ph.D.

For areas of the Northern Hemisphere that experience four distinctive weather seasons, it is the time of the year when trees provide an ablaze of colors, one of nature’s stunning wonders. In addition to their visual beauty, trees provide oxygen, shade, ecosystems, and so much more to life on earth. The tree cover worldwide plays…

December 20, 2021
Green Junction: Sustainable Agriculture by Julie Peller Ph.D.

The number of farms in the United States has been falling since 2007, while farm sizes over these years have been increasing. Most US farms are small family farms; these occupy about half of the country’s farmland. However, they generate only 21% of the food production, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).…

December 9, 2021
Green Junction: Glass is a Beautiful Thing. By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

Glass is a beautiful material that is believed to date back to 2400 BC. Glass is made of roughly 70% silica sand with other components, namely limestone (calcium carbonate) and soda ash (sodium carbonate). By heating these materials in a furnace above 2700 degrees Fahrenheit and then cooling, glass forms. Soda-lime glass is the most…

October 22, 2021
Green Junction: The Pandemic has tested the capacity of populations. By Julie Peller Ph.D.

The damage from humanity’s exploitation of the earth’s natural resources plays out daily around the globe. However, significant parts of the population experience milder effects of climate change, massive waste, biodiversity loss, etc. How attentive are those who do not experience intense, direct effects of these massive global problems? Do people of faith feel empathetic…

October 20, 2021
GREEN JUNCTION: Steel Production BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

Green Junction Steel production in Northwest Indiana accounts for about a quarter of the output in the United States. According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, production in northern Indiana has led the nation since 1977. Worldwide, the United States is the fourth-largest producer of steel. If this industry were a country, it would…

August 18, 2021
GREEN JUNCTION: In the 6th anniversary year of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si, BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

In the 6th anniversary year of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si, there are ongoing efforts by many organizations and individuals for ecological conversion to restore and protect Our Common Home. Ecological conversion involves changes of mind and heart that transform lifestyles towards harmony with the earth. Professor Stacy Davis at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, describes…

August 5, 2021
GREEN JUNCTION: do you know what is happening to the corn belt? BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

A recently reported study on the Midwest Corn Belt determined that nearly one-third of this farmland has lost its carbon-rich topsoil. Soil organic matter, the carbon-based portion of the soil, is a critical component of healthy soil. The loss has been primarily from hilltops and ridgelines and is a consequence of tillage erosion from repeated…

August 3, 2021
Green Junction: What Do Trees Do For Us? By Julie Peller Ph.D

Ecosystem services is a term used to describe the ways nature provides materials and functions for the essence of life. The food we eat, the oxygen we breathe, the medicines we take, and so much more are only possible by the services provided via resources of the earth. Trees are an example of nature’s offerings.…

July 28, 2021
GREEN JUNCTION: “Approximately 8% of Americans and 32% of Canadians live in the Great Lakes basin,” BY JULIE PELLER PH.D

The Great Lakes are considered the most extensive freshwater system globally, containing enough water to cover the surface of the United States 10 feet deep. Approximately 8% of Americans and 32% of Canadians live in the Great Lakes basin, formed by the glaciers about 10,000 years ago. In addition to the numerous species that rely…

July 24, 2021
AI must be understood in the context of Eudaemonia

AI must be understood in the context of Eudaimonia ~The Greater Good of Humans. Left in the hands of only corporations and including high tech globally, we will see the same cause-effect as at the beginning of the agricultural & Industrial revolution. It won’t be pretty! What we saw in the agricultural and industrial revolutions…

July 7, 2021