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Natural Awakenings Dallas -Fort Worth Metroplex Edition

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Are we thankful yet, or do we need another tornado?

Oct 01, 2019 08:15AM ● By Kyle Hass

Bernice Bulter

As we finally enter into what promises to be a very brief North Texas fall and look forward to the holiday season, we have a lot to be thankful for. Looming largest for me is God’s grace to our community a couple of weeks ago, when we endured a tornado outbreak that’s expected to be the costliest in state history—yet there was no loss of life. When it happened, my next-door neighbors and I were just completing repairs from the June “stormnado”, and though we could hear the sirens and received text alerts that the tornado was coming up an adjacent street, we weren’t hit and didn’t even lose power.

 It was nonetheless a very scary and humbling experience, made even more so by TV footage of a leveled Home Depot just three miles from my house, and by the devastation I saw with my own eyes as I drove by it: office buildings with no windows, restaurants with no roofs and a landscape strewn with pieces of metal and other objects.

 

Two days later, bringing this event into even more sobering reality, I had the privilege of interviewing two scientists from the Natural Resources Defense Council on the segment “Climate Change: Your Job, Your Health and Your Wallet,” for our new Healthy Living Healthy Planet Radio show on 1190AM. I learned that scientists consider climate change a public health emergency and believe it should be treated as such, since much of the cost of public health can be attributed to the impact of extreme weather events which are only going to get worse.

Indeed, North Texans are living through this scenario now. We’ve just come off the hottest July and September in history. And while our climate used to be hot and dry, it’s now hot and humid—which explains our West Nile virus outbreak a few years ago and our new year-round allergy season.

Yet I was surprised to learn that, according to the World Health Organization, 67 percent of Americans believe in climate change, but only 49 percent think it will affect them personally. What to do? The scientists I interviewed said it’s important to keep listening, learning and talking about it—and we agree. Our new radio show is helping North Texans do just that. You can hear it Saturdays at 3 p.m. on 1190 AM (if it’s not delayed by Texas Tech football), streaming on the iHeartRadio app, or any time via podcast at HealthyLivingHealthyPlanetRadio.com. You’ll hear interviews with experts on the hottest environmental issues and related health impacts. The point is to connect the dots and show the unbreakable relationship between our health and our environment—so 49 percent of Americans can wake up and see what’s at stake.

While our situation seems dire, there is hope; it can be turned around. But for that to happen, we must take action now. This month’s issue brings us back to hope, gratitude and thankfulness for what we have, including the planet where we can still thrive if we take proper care of it. Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast, a leading figure in a worldwide gratitude movement, puts it all in perspective in our Inspiration department, “Gratitude: A Path to a Better World.” And don’t miss our feature article by foodie April Thompson, who brings joy to the season’s table with Zenful Eating: Mindful Meals in Quiet Gratitude.” Three of the nation’s top Zen chefs share their recipes and their wisdom about being grateful, present and peaceful at mealtime, just in time for Thanksgiving. 

As usual, we hope you will be inspired by this month’s offerings and that you will find something that causes you to take action toward living a healthier life on a healthier planet.

Blessings until next month,

Bernice