When Earth Speaks: Gaia Theory, Disasters, and Mother Nature's Wake-Up Call?

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Hello, I'm Ellen Bentz, coming today from Wheaton, Illinois, in the USA.
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Welcome to Impact, a podcast about how we can each bring about real change in
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the world and getting practical in making that happen.
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And hello, I'm Clive Johnson, coming today from Leoncy in the UK.
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A special welcome if you're listening for the first time, and a big thank you to our new subscribers.
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Each week we look at one aspect of how we can connect our hearts to offer healing
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for others with our collective intention, prayers, and meditation,
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and go behind the headlines of a critical happening in our world that needs
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our attention right now.
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In today's episode, we take one of these regular deep dives to more fully understand
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and tune in with something many of us may know only a little bit about and see
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where we might hone in with our prayers and intentions.
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And as we record, it's August 26, 20, 26.
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So, 26, 26. No, the August, the 08 doesn't add up to a good number sequence, does it?
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Sometimes you get it. You know what I just realized? It's my half birthday. Is it?
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Oh, well, happy birthday.
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So, in last week's episode, we reflected upon the massive ongoing and growing
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human crisis brought about by Canada's wildfires this year, some of which continue
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to burn and remain out of control.
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Wildfires have also been much in the news in Europe this year,
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including in regions that are not used to fighting them.
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And, of course, there are many other natural events occurring virtually constantly,
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affecting some part of the world.
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Typhoons and cyclones, earthquakes, flooding, drought We often cover such major
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disasters Yet we got wondering, are these happening more frequently than before?
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And could it be that Mother Nature is screaming at us to wake up to the possible
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actions we humans may be taking That are encouraging the regularity and intensity
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of what for us are invariably catastrophic events?
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In this episode, we seek answers to these questions.
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By exploring the idea that Mother Nature, sometimes known as Gaia,
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always acts to restore harmony in the natural order, creating and destroying
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as necessary, and a constant drive to bring about the optimum conditions for healthy life on Earth.
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This is the well-known concept of Gaia theory, developed in the 1970s by the
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British scientist James Lovelock, who worked closely with microbiologist Lynn Margulis.
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It presents the idea that life in Earth's systems form one tightly connected evolving system.
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In other words, organisms, oceans, atmosphere, soils, and rocks continually
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affect one another through a countless number of feedback loops.
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The theory suggests that across long periods, some of these interactions can
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help keep conditions within ranges compatible with life, such as atmospheric
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composition, ocean chemistry, and temperature.
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Gaia is the ancient Greek name for Earth as a primordial goddess.
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Lovelock adopted the name because it spoke about the idea of a planet-scale whole.
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This led some to see Gaia as Mother Earth as a living conscious entity.
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That interpretation isn't what Lovelock's scientific hypothesis proposes.
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The theory doesn't maintain that Earth has consciousness, intention,
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moral judgment, or a wish to punish or educate humanity.
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However, it's not an idea that some of us might quickly dismiss.
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Lovelock's theory was controversial because it suggested that Earth deliberately
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sought conditions favorable to life,
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with critics arguing that natural selection operates on organisms and genes,
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not automatically on the whole planet, and pointing out that life has sometimes
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transformed Earth dramatically rather than maintaining stable conditions,
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for instance, the rise of oxygen in the atmosphere.
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Whether we understand the Earth as a single living consciousness or not,
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Gaia theory did help offer a key insight that's of interest to us in our current inquiry.
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That the atmosphere, oceans, land, ice, geology, and biosphere must be studied as coupled systems.
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However, the theory doesn't assume that Earth will automatically restore a safe
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environment for humans.
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Our planet may remain dynamic and life-bearing while becoming far less hospitable
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to particular species, which, of course, may include Homo sapiens.
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However, we should say that there are views among philosophers and theologians
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that regard the earth, and indeed the entire cosmos, as being alive,
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minded, or ensouled, although as yet, no scientific evidence has been offered
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to support the earth being a single
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consciousness organism with intentions comparable to a human or animal.
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Cosmopsychism is one example which maintains that consciousness is fundamental
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at the level of the universe as a whole, and individual minds may derive from
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or be aspects of cosmic consciousness.
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Where such theories are concerned, we could say that if consciousness is fundamental
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for life in the cosmos, a sufficiently integrated system such as the earth,
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with its atmosphere, biosphere, oceans, soils, and geological cycles,
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might have its own inner sense or experience.
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However, this remains what we might understand as a spiritual worldview rather
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than a scientific theory.
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Yeah, I don't know much about cosmopsychism myself. Lovelock,
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I believe, coined the phrase Gaia hypothesis on the suggestion of his neighbor,
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who was one William Golding, who wrote Lord of the Flies.
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Thank goodness. How they came to live together, but apparently they were very
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good friends. And yeah, I think I read somewhere that it was Golding who originally
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suggested Gaia as a name for the theory.
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Interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And Lord of the Flies, of course,
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was a book all about human beings doing bad things when they're left to their own devices.
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So, you know, in a different way, sort of touching on the same topic, really. Right.
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So what are the disasters that have been happening this year?
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This year has already seen a relentless succession of floods,
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wildfires, tropical cyclones, and major earthquakes.
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The effects of global warming are loading the dice towards more damaging heat,
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heavy rainfall, drought, and fire weather events,
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although earthquakes remain primarily products of normal plate tectonics,
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not related to climate change or human action.
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Many of these phenomena do occur regularly, yet the extent to which they are
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becoming disasters for humans is what's now so stark.
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And to be clear, we name a disaster from our perspective, from a human perspective
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as it were, as a natural physical event like an earthquake or wildfire when
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it exposes people to danger, makes housing and built infrastructure vulnerable,
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overly degrades the ecosystem, or where communities have a weak ability to respond.
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Such events may not necessarily be a disaster from Mother Nature's point of
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view, if we can imagine Mother Nature having a view of what best suits her highest interest.
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One of the more notable incidents include a magnitude 7.6 earthquake,
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that struck the northern Molucca Sea off Indonesia on 2nd April,
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killing at least one person, damaging buildings and producing tsunami waves.
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It was a tectonic event arising from movement within an exceptionally active plate boundary region.
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And in that country too, just a week ago, at least 47 people were killed after
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a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Floris Island. We had an intention for that
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in the Facebook group last week.
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Bangladesh has seen monsoon flooding and landslides When in July,
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torrential rain caused flooding across seven districts,
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Reported deaths reached at least 44 And over a quarter of a million homes were stranded,
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We have of course mentioned the wildfires in North America By mid-July,
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wildfires were burning across Europe, Canada and the United States Amid exceptionally
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high northern hemisphere temperatures is.
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In Washington state, fires across more than a quarter million acres prompted
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urgent evacuations earlier this month.
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Europe's summer fires have been especially devastating in Croatia,
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Germany, France and Greece, leading to mass evacuations and injuries.
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Even southern England has seen over 1,000 wildfires being recorded so far this year.
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Of course, some fire and other emergency services who are not historically used
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to combating fires on the scale seen may be inadequately resourced and trained
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to deal with disasters that weren't previously anticipated.
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That's something we were musing on last week, isn't it?
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In East Asia, some areas have seen extreme rainfall, with parts of Chiba near
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Tokyo this month receiving more than 360mm of rain in just 24 hours.
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Inundating roads and railways, leaving travelers stranded, knocking out power,
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and reportedly killing eight people.
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And that 360 millimeters is over 14 inches. Wow. For those of us in the States.
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That is extraordinary, isn't it? Extraordinary. In the U.S.,
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some of the effects of the different disasters are compounding.
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I should mention, actually, that a very similar amount of rainfall in 24 hours
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was received in Caracas in Venezuela, which is just overcoming its recent earthquake.
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Well, not overcoming, but it's only two months since the devastating earthquake.
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That was this week. There was severe rainfall and flooding there as well.
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In the US, some of the effects of the different disasters are compounding.
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In July, a notable convergence of wildfire smoke, New fires and Texas flooding
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came together Although I understand that Texas now needs rain It's suffering drought in many areas.
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Reuters reported that 68 large fires were blazing across 15 U.S.
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States while floodwaters swept through Texas Hill Country.
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Also this month, typhoon Dolphin brought torrential rain, strong winds,
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and flooding to Zhejiang and Shanghai.
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Other reports describe major cyclone-related flooding and large evacuations in China.
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These are just a selection of events happening in recent months.
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They literally are happening all the time at the moment, as we mentioned.
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There have been many more. Yeah. In my state of Illinois, in the United States,
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we have now become the state that has the most tornadoes this year.
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And that's never happened before. We've never been the state.
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Yeah. As you know, as I get on and say, we had another tornado.
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Yeah. So that's really strange. Indiana has had some catastrophic flooding it's never had before.
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So the U.S. is seeing a lot of disasters between flooding and fires. So interesting. Yes.
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So has what's been happening this year been worse than in previous years in
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terms of the number or intensity of such events?
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On this question, it's actually far too early to say, given the time needed
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to collect and analyze data.
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Annual disaster data are usually compiled retrospectively.
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Impacts are revised, and a year-to-date count cannot fairly be compared with complete years.
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EM, DIT, or MDAT, the main international disaster database, covers disasters
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from 1900 onward, but its 2026 work began with a validation of 2025 events.
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Even the reported number of disasters is cautioned against as a measure of the
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total occurrence because it reflects changes in reporting.
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However, there are strong grounds for saying that the background risk for climate-related
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extremes is higher than it was in earlier decades.
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The UN's World Meteorological Organization says that 2015 to 2025 were the 11
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hottest years on record, and 2025 was the second or third hottest year,
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around 1.4 degrees Celsius, which is 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit,
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above the 1850 to 1900 average.
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At the same time, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that heavy
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precipitation has likely intensified across much of the world's land area,
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with human influence a main contributor.
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Continued warming generally makes such events more frequent and more intense.
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The occurrence of such disasters in some regions that aren't used to seeing
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them with such intensity and frequency is adding to the human challenge of how we respond.
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This became clear to us with the recent wildfires in Europe, even in the UK.
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This is especially the case with wildfires. 2025 saw the largest recorded burned
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area in Europe, about 2.5 million acres,
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following sustained hot, dry conditions that amplified wildfire activity.
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That indicates that the conditions for a fire spreading has been increasing,
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though it doesn't mean that every individual fire was caused by climate change.
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Yeah that's important to keep in mind isn't it yeah there are other other causes
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as we mentioned last time as well of course including human intervention right.
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Higher levels of extreme rainfall are also being seen, although the earthquakes
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being reported this year have largely occurred in tectonically active regions,
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where significant seismicity is normal.
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In other words, these aren't being affected by human behavior.
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These include a magnitude 7.6 event near Tonga in the Pacific Ring of Fire,
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another magnitude 7.6 quake in the northern Malacca Sea of Indonesia we mentioned earlier,
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which also occurred in a very active tectonic setting, and quakes in Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea.
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They were likewise in regions long recognized for substantial earthquake risk.
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Birthquakes arise mainly from stress and rupture along forts as tectonic plates move.
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There can be limited local interactions, such as glacier retreat,
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reservoir loading, geothermal activity or fluid injection, affecting stresses
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on forts that can be related to climate change.
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But these aren't the main drivers for most quakes.
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Belgium experienced what was described as its largest wildfire on record back in August.
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This is significant because Belgium isn't normally associated with the kind
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of large, fast-moving fire emergencies familiar to Mediterranean Europe.
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More broadly, the EU's fire danger outlook in mid-August placed very extreme
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conditions not only in the Balkans and Mediterranean, but from Germany and the
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Alpine region through to Poland, as well as,
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pockets of southern England, Ireland, northern France, and southern Sweden.
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These are places where destructive wildfire conditions have historically been
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less regular than in southern Europe.
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Wildfire is not unknown in some of these areas. For example,
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in the Laune and Gironde regions of southwest France, but the scale and conditions
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of 2026 have been unusually serious.
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The recent widely reported fire near Bordeaux burned around 100,000 acres,
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the second largest area destroyed by a single French wildfire since the Second World War,
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while around 220,000 residents and tourists were evacuated.
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The fire and weather itself was estimated to be unusual in southwest France,
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even in the current climate.
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Conditions of comparable seven-day severity occur roughly once every 20 to 22 years.
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The same analysis estimates that anthropogenic warming increased the intensity
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of such conditions by about 46% and made them at least twice as likely as in
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a pre-industrial climate.
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In other words, the risk of fire starting and spreading is now higher because of the climate.
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Records for burn were also set in central Spain, with the Avila-Madrid-Toledo
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blaze being described as the largest and most destructive fire in the country's history. Wow.
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Wow. These records are just astonishing, aren't they? Yes.
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Record rainfall is also being recorded in areas that are not used to extremes.
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So, as we mentioned, the mid-August flooding in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo
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was a clear example of unusual intensity in what is a densely populated infrastructure-heavy region.
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As we said, more than 14 inches fell in just 24 hours, significantly exceeding
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Chiba's previous record of 309 millimeters. Don't know what the inches are there.
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That was within a single day. The intense rainfall left 20,000 homes without
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power and about 7,000 travelers stranded at nearby Narita, home to Tokyo's main airport.
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Overall, we might say that so far this year, some regions have experienced genuinely
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record-breaking or unusually severe fire and rainfall events.
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The evidence strongly points to shifting climate risk conditions,
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as familiar hazards are increasingly occurring in unfamiliar seasons at unusual
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intensity or in places whose infrastructure, Ecosystems and public expectations Were not built for them.
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And that's the problem, right? They're happening where people just aren't prepared.
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No. Well, not that they're great when you are prepared, but,
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you know, it just compounds it.
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Can we then say whether this intensity and frequency of disasters has anything
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to do with Gaia theory or even with our planet urging us to wake up?
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Some spiritual, ecological, and popular commentators are interpreting disasters
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as resulting from Gaia, our Mother Earth, waking humanity up,
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correcting human excess, or communicating planetary limits.
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But these are faith-based interpretations, not based on scientific findings
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about our planet's intention.
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We need to remind ourselves that Gaia theory doesn't describe the Earth as being
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a conscious agent with intentions, judgments, or a plan to punish humanity.
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Our planet may be responding to being pushed beyond its limits,
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or to extremes that might not have been witnessed without human intervention.
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Science can show that human activity is destabilizing conditions through warming,
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land use change, and ecological damage, and that the consequences return through
00:19:58.352 --> 00:20:01.611
the same interconnected earth system on which we depend.
00:20:02.005 --> 00:20:05.622
Yet this isn't quite the same as saying that the earth is volitionally calling
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us to wake up or even seeking to punish us.
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Earth has always been dynamic.
00:20:11.903 --> 00:20:17.371
Tectonic plates move, volcanoes erupt, rivers flood, droughts recur,
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lightning ignites fires, oceans,
00:20:20.692 --> 00:20:24.738
and atmospheres shift through phenomena such as El Nino and La Nina,
00:20:25.295 --> 00:20:29.842
yet natural doesn't mean that there's no significance to human actions in how
00:20:29.842 --> 00:20:32.956
they interact with or impact these natural processes.
00:20:33.718 --> 00:20:38.369
Specifically, heavier rainfall and surface water flooding are becoming more
00:20:38.369 --> 00:20:42.483
likely in many regions as a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.
00:20:43.046 --> 00:20:48.967
Hotter, drier, and windier conditions can lengthen fire seasons and raise fire weather risk.
00:20:49.492 --> 00:20:53.229
And ocean warming and rising sea levels can intensify rainfall,
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storm surge, and coastal impacts,
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even where changes in storm numbers are uncertain or region-specific.
00:21:00.266 --> 00:21:07.129
Urban paving, wetland loss, poor drainage, and development in fire-prone areas
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may all add to potential impacts.
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Climate change has changed the probability, intensity, duration,
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and impact of many extremes.
00:21:17.013 --> 00:21:21.989
We may be a technologically powerful species, but we cannot continue to behave
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as though we are separate from the systems that provide us with air,
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water, soil, food, and climatic stability.
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The way we act may risk future flooding, fires, and typhoons on a scale and
00:21:35.469 --> 00:21:37.794
in regions that are truly unprecedented.
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Many of us know this, yet still too many of our leaders remain unready to take serious action.
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Those of us who know that this is necessary must remain strong in our advocacy.
00:21:50.473 --> 00:21:53.753
In this, we might take steps to practice building resilience,
00:21:54.124 --> 00:21:58.523
such as Mother Nature shows resilience in powerfully responding to the ever-changing
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conditions that she faces.
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Regular listeners will know that resilience is the theme for this quarter's
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Global Healing Response.
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We offered some practical thoughts on how you might build resilience in an earlier
00:22:10.713 --> 00:22:13.884
episode, the link for which we'll put in the show notes.
00:22:14.476 --> 00:22:18.103
You may like to know that there's also a whole set of resources supporting this
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theme on the Global Healing Response website.
00:22:20.322 --> 00:22:23.010
Again, we'll put the link for that in the show notes.
00:22:23.822 --> 00:22:27.323
So where might we hone in with our intention and prayers? As always,
00:22:27.323 --> 00:22:31.083
this is the point you may wish to bookmark, to come back to you as we invite
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you to join us in sending intention.
00:22:33.904 --> 00:22:35.593
We'll put a bookmark in the show notes.
00:22:36.104 --> 00:22:42.253
So just take a moment to allow yourself to become present, setting aside attention
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from the external world for a moment or what's going on around you in your immediate environment.
00:22:49.724 --> 00:22:55.016
Allowing yourself to connect with your higher self and in your own way,
00:22:55.732 --> 00:22:58.465
coming to a point of holding intention.
00:22:58.465 --> 00:23:02.735
We'll mention, as always, a number of suggested intentions, but you may wish
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to pause between each in turn to give proper attention to each.
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We ask that global leaders, heads of multinational companies,
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and all who have influence may be moved by the scale and intensity of natural disasters this year
00:23:18.541 --> 00:23:24.035
to recognize the impacts their policies, or lack of them, may have on increasing
00:23:24.035 --> 00:23:27.542
the risk of flooding, fire, and typhoons occurring.
00:23:28.598 --> 00:23:34.045
We will that fire and emergency crews in all temperate as well as already fire-prone
00:23:34.045 --> 00:23:39.325
regions will be alert to the possibility that large-scale wildfires may occur in their areas,
00:23:39.931 --> 00:23:45.330
and be alerted to scale up their readiness to combat such disasters if this is required.
00:23:46.412 --> 00:23:51.231
We ask for continued innovation in disaster forecasting and combat approaches,
00:23:51.725 --> 00:23:56.355
including in both technological inventions and approaches to managing disaster
00:23:56.355 --> 00:23:58.662
defense and response actions.
00:23:59.751 --> 00:24:04.585
We pray that there will be widespread international cooperation and intelligence
00:24:04.585 --> 00:24:09.305
sharing among emergency services, including a readiness to support cross-border
00:24:09.305 --> 00:24:12.080
responses to major emergencies when they occur.
00:24:12.718 --> 00:24:16.945
And for an acknowledgment among all governments that the actions of many nations
00:24:16.945 --> 00:24:21.695
contribute to global warming, even if the consequences may be mainly felt by
00:24:21.695 --> 00:24:24.752
some whose contributions to this are less than others.
00:24:25.833 --> 00:24:30.697
We will for wisdom for those involved in forest management, water management,
00:24:31.086 --> 00:24:35.829
and all industries that are directly impacted by fire and excessive rainfall,
00:24:36.392 --> 00:24:41.054
to know how most effectively to respond to the disasters that occur.
00:24:42.138 --> 00:24:47.151
And this week, as we reflect on the large number of intense natural disasters
00:24:47.151 --> 00:24:50.973
this year, we suggest holding as our main intention.
00:24:51.867 --> 00:24:56.761
We will that the intensity and frequency of natural disasters this year will
00:24:56.761 --> 00:25:01.681
motivate the governments of all nations to redouble efforts to act decisively
00:25:02.058 --> 00:25:07.291
with measures to reduce or contain global warming, and that those who continue
00:25:07.291 --> 00:25:12.288
to advocate for such actions among them will remain resilient in their advocacy.
00:25:13.094 --> 00:25:15.555
Please join us in holding this intention.
00:25:17.221 --> 00:25:21.971
Yeah, I was just thinking about some news footage I saw the other day of wildfires
00:25:21.971 --> 00:25:25.561
in Wales here as well. It was another area which has been very,
00:25:25.561 --> 00:25:28.710
very badly affected. We've only mentioned a few, really.
00:25:28.843 --> 00:25:31.271
Right. There was so much more. Yeah.
00:25:31.631 --> 00:25:34.294
Sweden, my goodness, you know, that far north.
00:25:35.008 --> 00:25:39.641
So, that about wraps it up for this episode. remember you can connect with us
00:25:39.641 --> 00:25:44.231
in the Facebook group and for live intention holding in my daily insight timer
00:25:44.231 --> 00:25:48.289
offerings and with Ellen in the Labyrinth Activist Network's Zoom calls.
00:25:48.876 --> 00:25:51.871
Details of how to hook up with these are in our show notes.
00:25:52.214 --> 00:25:57.385
Look out too for our next special topic episode, which we'll be releasing in the next few days.
00:25:57.953 --> 00:26:01.733
Thank you for listening and for sharing with us in holding intentions.
00:26:02.348 --> 00:26:05.912
We look forward to connecting again next time. In the meantime,
00:26:06.388 --> 00:26:08.803
time. Thank you. Go well. Stay safe.
00:26:09.526 --> 00:26:12.225
And remember, we're more powerful together.
00:26:14.071 --> 00:26:19.608
Impact is presented by Helen Mintz and Clive Johnson and produced by Impact Productions.
00:26:20.387 --> 00:26:25.222
Our theme music is by Chris Collins and our logo artwork is by Auto Classic.
00:26:26.012 --> 00:26:30.523
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and please leave us a review on Apple
00:26:30.523 --> 00:26:34.940
Podcasts, Spotify, Audible or your favourite podcast provider.
00:26:35.329 --> 00:26:39.233
We're a non-commercial podcast dedicated to people of any faith,
00:26:39.233 --> 00:26:42.835
tradition or none who yearn for healing in our troubled world.
00:26:43.235 --> 00:26:49.365
Please pass on the word so others may join us in making an impact thank you for listening.