For the Beauty Chapter Two

Chapter two is appropriately titled, "What's Wrong with the World?"

Creation is groaning, says St. Paul. The state of the world is not good, and in this chapter Dr. B-P attempts to outline the ways in which our planet is crying out as if in pain. The staggering statistics in this chapter are frightening and despairing - even in B-P is half right! So, what are the contributing factors to the earth's groaning?

POPULATION
Global population had doubled in only forty years, and it grow by 80 million each year. That's 80,000,000 each year! The popluation grows exponentially.

HUNGER
If the hungry people in the world today were lined up shoulder to shoulder, how long would the line stretch? Answer: Around the world 18.2 times!! This is unbelievable. Approximately 1.2 billion people are undernourished and do not eat enough calories per day for a normal life.

BIODIVERSITY
Three species of plant or animal goes extinct each day! One species every eight hours is gone forever.

DEFORESTATION
Tropical rain forests are deforested at the rate of 25 million acres each year - roughly the size of the state of Indiana.

WATER
Approximately 1.5 billion people do not have adequate drinking water. That's 25% of the world's population.

LAND
18 tons of topsoil per hectare are lost each year in the U.S.

WASTE
The average American throws away 1500 pounds of trash a year. That amounts to 52 tons of trash over a 70 year lifespan. Enough disposable diapers, if stretched end to end, are thrown away each year to reach the moon and back seven times!!!

ENERGY
The U.S. devours approximately 24% of the available energy. The average American consumes twice as much energy as compared to other industrialized nations.

AIR
100% of Sweden's lakes are too acidic to support local wildlife.

CLIMATE
Our climate is changing. Greenhouse gas concentrations are up. Temperatures are rising in certain places, and cooling in others.

This chapter is chuck-full of staggering statistics which leave the reader with a feeling of despair. Thankfully, this is only chapter two. There is much more to come, but in the mean time, how are you and I contributing to the groaning of creation? What can you do starting today to be more responsible concerning the care of the earth? Big gains can be made through small steps like recycling; turning off unused appliances and lights; riding a bicycle or walking to work; collecting rain water; consuming less; fasting? There is so much to be done, yet there is much we can do to make a difference.