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Winter A • 2010-2011

[The following is an excerpt from The Richest of Fare by Phyllis Strupp (Sonoran Cross Press, 2004). For more information and to order visit www.amazon.com/Richest-Fare-Seeking-Spiritual-Security/dp/097467270X. Or contact the publisher directly at info@sonorancross.org to receive a 25% discount from list price for 5 copies or more.]

Although the infamous “brown cloud” of Phoenix is noxious to life, at least it reminds us that there is something that surrounds the Earth—the atmosphere.

What’s in that brown cloud anyway? Will it turn black some day?Although it’s easy to forget about the atmosphere, it’s not a good idea. It is Mother Earth’s most important sous-chef, in charge of preparing two necessary parts of her banquet for life: air and water.

Wielding the tools of ocean and weather, the atmosphere is the one who really takes care of business here on Earth. Climatic conditions have heavily influenced almost every aspect of life, including the availability of water and food, the creation and extinction of species, the wealth of individuals and communities and the rise and fall of civilizations.

This important terrestrial player—the atmosphere—is a layer of air, water vapor and particles that allows plants and animals to breathe and protects them from too much sun. It contains a bio-friendly mix of nitrogen, oxygen and a few trace gases, including carbon dioxide. Oddly enough, the sliver of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has a major impact on the amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth’s surface.

To mess with the atmosphere is to mess with self-destruction.This defensive cover is another unique aspect of the Earth’s personality, as other celestial bodies appear to have little or no atmosphere. Although the events that formed this layer are not quite clear, it appears that the atmo-sphere’s formation was linked to the Earth’s cooling and the birth of the ocean.

Mother Earth’s diary confirms that the atmosphere’s composition has changed dramatically over time. For over three billion years, carbon dioxide claimed a much larger share of it, which hindered the evolution of life on land.

Today’s oxygen level has been present in the atmosphere for less than one billion years.

Our atmosphere has several layers that stretch over 400 miles above the Earth. The two lowest levels extend about thirty miles above the surface and play a major role in weather and climate.

Humanity shares the atmosphere like a global village.Following Mother Earth’s lead with the land, the lower atmosphere likes to mix things up in the sky and the ocean. Huge masses of air and water with opposing properties keep colliding each other, thereby redis-

tributing important resources like solar energy and water-rich clouds. However, air and ocean currents move more at our speed over minutes and hours and days—while the land moves over thousands and millions of years.

Warm, moist air rising over heated tropical waters creates lowpressure pockets that attract cold,

dry air. As a result, the steamy, heavy air of the tropics is inclined to head north to chill out, while frigid, light air from the poles rushes to the tropics to warm up—just as people and birds do!

The atmosphere is the Earth’s breath—and the oceans are her lungs.These huge air masses with contrasting humidity, temperature, and pressure engage in great pillow fights in the sky, dispersing wind, clouds, rain, hail, thunder and lightning instead of feathers and laughs. Ocean currents, prevailing wind patterns, terrestrial features and surface temperatures help determine where the fights will occur.

Lightning, a common feature of storms, is Nature’s favorite way of lighting a fire on the Earth’s surface—literally and figuratively! This natural source of fire has played a major role in shaping the evolution of life on

Global Village by Phyllis Strupp

SR-00-WA-10-A-GlobAl VillAGe1

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

—Chief Seattle 1855

©2010 by Morehouse education resources • all rights reserved • www.livingthegoodnews.coM • 1-800-242-1918

Winter A • 2010-2011

Earth, clearing out old vegetation growth to make room for the new.

Fire transforms self-destructive dead wood into new life.Since fire consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide, it can temporarily disrupt the local atmosphere and

ecology. However, even more catastrophic changes in local atmospheric conditions have been common in the Earth’s past. Mother Earth’s diary reveals that incredible climatic extremes have turned the surface into a broiling furnace, a frozen wasteland and everything in between.

Today’s conditions are moderate compared to those of the past—although that might be changing.

Along with the sun and the moon, the Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere and biosphere shape the climate in ways that are still not fully understood.

While this climatic partnership is beyond our current comprehension, it is not beyond our influence. Over the past hundred years, a general climatic warming trend has been accelerating owing to the presence in the air of increased amounts of gases like carbon dioxide, partly if not wholly the result of industrial activity and vehicle exhaust.

Can the universe be a friendly place if we make the Earth uninhabitable?Maybe the clear and present danger of global warming will finally teach us that, when it comes to the Earth, humanity can easily stake a claim but cannot call the shots for long. Land, water, fire and air belong to Mother Earth, not to us.

Just as the mountains and rocks have known all along.Unfortunately, we are learning this lesson the hard way, like so many others before us.

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Phyllis Strupp is also the author of Faith and Nature: The Divine Adventure of Life on Earth, an 8-session, eco-friendly, faith-formation program for all ages, also available from Morehouse Education Resources. Learn more at: www.churchpublishing.org/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=productDetail&productID=8470

Global Village by Phyllis Strupp

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“All of life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. What-ever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr