Deacon Tom Cervone, Ph.D., Sister Maureen Houlihan, D.C., and Nicole Cervone-Gish, Ed. M.S.
Our Planet Earth
Editor’s note: This series takes a deeper look at Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical － “On Care for Our Common Home, Laudato Si’”
“God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grow in silence; see the stars, moon, and sun, how they move in silence…We need silence …. to touch souls” (Mother Teresa).
“Listen to silence. It has so much to say” (Rumi).
Rhett Herman, Ph.D., physics professor at Radford University in Virginia (Scientific American, 10/26/1998, How fast is the Earth moving) says, the Earth revolves around the sun in 365 days at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph, and rotates on its axis, at the equator at 1,000 mph. In addition, the sun is a yellow star made of hydrogen and helium, 93 million miles from earth, and its volume would need 1.3 million earths to fill it (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
Being the only star and largest object in our solar system, of which all planets, moons, comets, and asteroids orbit (Josh Davis, The Sun, Natural History Museum), sunlight takes eight minutes to reach Earth (Light as a Cosmic Time Machine, Andrew Fraknoi, PBS); provides beautiful sunrises and sunsets; and gives light to the moon.
“Each sunset brings closure, and each sunrise brings new possibilities, and both have beauty” (Karin Schwan). The sun gives off radiation consisting of different wavelengths. Visible light gives a rainbow of colors with the majority of blue and red used in plant photosynthesis. In the process of photosynthesis, light from the sun activates chlorophyll in leaves to combine carbon dioxide and water to form sugar and oxygen. Clouds are formed by plant transpiration and by evaporation from water surfaces. So the sun even controls our water cycle. The earth is heated by the sun. Without the sun, the earth would be frozen. Most importantly, different materials on earth absorb sunlight differently (e.g., concrete absorbs heat during the day and is a heat sink at night). Also, the sun’s rays get absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, causing global warming. Even our four seasons come as a result of the earth's spin axis being tilted 23.5 degrees with respect to its orbital plane as Earth orbits around the sun (See diagram in website on seasons).
Energy comes from the sun, which we can capture in solar panels and solar cells. From such a renewable form of energy, we can generate electricity for our homes, businesses, factories, schools and churches – and make many products. This energy can also be converted for use in heating, cooking, disinfection and transportation. The sun also gives us wind by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface, with land heating quicker than water (Wind explained, U.S. Energy Information Administration).
The sun also creates ocean currents caused by wind; density differences in water masses caused by gravity, salinity and temperature variations, and from earthquakes or storms (What causes ocean currents, NOAA Ocean Exploration). Moving heat from the equator toward the poles, ocean currents play a vital role in controlling the climate. Ocean currents are also very important to sea life because they carry nutrients and food to organisms that live permanently attached in one place, and carry nutrients, reproductive cells, food and ocean life to new places (Ocean currents, National Geographic).
What can we do! Visit:
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fast-is-the-earth-mov/
- https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/
- https://www.carecreations.basf.com/core-competencies/all-about-sun/sunlight/no-sun-no-life-on-earth#
- https://www.weather.gov/lmk/seasons#
“Praise be You, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day … You give us light. And he is beautiful …” (St. Francis of Assisi).
Dr. Tom Cervone is a deacon at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Evansville, Indiana with 50 years of experience in ecology. He graduated from St. Bonaventure University, a Franciscan University. Sister Maureen Houlihan, D.C. is a support sister on the Seton Harvest Farm started by the Daughters of Charity in response to the Communities - Care of Mother Earth. This CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm grows all natural produce for shareholders and the poor. Nicole Cervone-Gish, Ed. MS. is an award winning ELL (English Language Learner) teacher, who lives in Evansville, Indiana with her family.
Originally printed in The Message on May 19th, 2023.