The night sky shows only a luminous white waning crescent of the moon but just two weeks ago we were startled to see a full moon almost red as part of the aftereffects of the fires out West affecting our atmosphere here on the East Coast. But then the moon seemed to return to a steady shade of silver white.
We know the moon affects tides, but many of us have not known that the moon wobbles due to the fact that the moon’s orbit, like the earth’s, is slightly tilted. The wobble cycle lasting 18.6 years either amplifies or suppresses tides, resulting in a possibly disastrous result for shoreline cities.
We think it can’t really happen, but look at what happened to Hurst Castle, built in 1544 by Henry VIII, which stood on its sandy spit even protecting the Allied forces on D-Day. Earlier this year, the 19th century addition collapsed into the sea due to rising sea levels and heavier winter storms from climate change. Looking at shorelines in the East, our fortifications are not as impregnable as those of Hurst Castle.
Prayer for the Day
Knowing the cool of the morning belies what could be on the horizon,
We search for ways to live and protect your creation, O God;
Cognizant of the ways we have not been faithful to your mandates,
We try to reduce our careless consumption of resources.
Shake us from our complacency and help us to realize
That we must learn to live beyond the moment.
In the name of the One who points the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The burning of fossil fuels has altered the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere so rapidly and so abundantly that now, we are driving not just the warming trend, not just the sea level rise that is a consequence of the warming trend that is melting polar ice and alpine ice, but also [ocean acidification].
Sylvia Earle, American marine biologist
We know we’re going to have sea rise. This is literally a one-way street now. The only thing we’re discussing now is how fast, it’s not whether anymore, and then eventually how much.”
Dr. Harold Wanless, University of Miami Department of Geological Sciences
The sea is God’s for God made it, and the dry land which God’s hands formed.
Psalm 95: 5