Eco Catholic

It's very cold in the upper and lower Midwest right now. How cold can it get on a long-term basis and still support a functioning human population? For the answer, go to Oymyakon.

Oymyakon, in Russia’s Siberian republic of Yakutia, is the coldest inhabited place on Earth. The village of Oymyakon (???????) only has a population of 800 people and has registered a record low of 71.2 degrees below zero in [img_assist|nid=22657||desc=|link=none|align=left|width=246|height=185]1926. Average highs in winter are only -20 to -40F. Reports have it that it's so cold in Oymyakon that some birds freeze to death in mid-flight. The name Oymyakon actually means non-freezing water, because there is a natural hot spring nearby. The town is located 690 meters above sea level and lies in a valley between two mountain ranges (the reason for the low temperatures). The town was founded by the Mongol horsemen of Genghis Khan sometime in the 13th century.

For years, billionaires David and Charles Koch have given millions to Tea Party candidates and anyone else who fights efforts to promote clean energy and stop climate change.

Last weekend, this dangerous duo met behind closed doors with other big-money donors and political strategists to plot how to end the EPA's authority to protect our clean air and water. Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune blogged about why the Koch brothers threaten America's future -- and how we can stop them

Fourth-magnitude star Menkib (Arabic for "shoulder") in the constellation Perseus is one of the hottest stars visible to the unaided eye and one of the most massive. Located about 1,600 light years away, this blue-white giant's visible light is believed to be over 13,000 times as bright as our Sun. The star is also six times hotter with a temperature of 37,000 Kelvin. It is thought that this luminous giant is about 40 solar masses in size. Interstellar dust may dim its brightness, but Menkib itself illuminates the large California Nebula, a star forming region located in Perseus. The young star is only a few million years old, is unstable and may someday explode. It is also one of the rare "runaway" stars of our galaxy, rapidly accelerating with its dim companion away from its birthplace in Perseus.

Menkib and the constellation Perseus are visible overhead on February nights in North America.

They put their hand to the flinty rock and overturn mountains by the roots. They cut out channels in the rocks, and their eyes see every precious thing. The sources of the rivers they probe; hidden things they bring to light. But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Job 28:9-12

Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land. Isaiah 5:8

God will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. Psalm 104:27-28

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. Psalm 104:14-15

We Catholics should be incorporating prayers for the Earth into more of our church life, so I am making it easy for you and providing some. I would encourage you to make up your own too. Feel free to use or adapt these with abandon, with or without the source.

General Prayer for the Earth