Human activities (primarily the burning of fossil fuels) have fundamentally increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere, warming the planet. Natural drivers, without human intervention, would push our planet toward a cooling period.
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
The effects of human-caused global warming are happening now, are irreversible on the timescale of people alive today, and will worsen in the decades to come.
12 Biggest Environmental Problems Of 2022
Human population growth and consumption, energy use, land use changes, and pollution are driving forces of global change. How do these factors impact ecological systems and human societies?
Climate change affects each part of the globe differently. Because of Earth's biodiversity, changing weather patterns and geographic variety, each region in the world will have to deal with their own set of consequences brought on by climate change.
Climate change indicators and impacts worsened in 2020
2020 was one of three warmest years on record, despite cooling La Niña.
Extreme weather and COVID-19 combined in a double blow.
Water Pollution: An Introduction - Causes, Effects, Types and Solutions
Australia currently regulates the deliberate loading, dumping and incineration of waste at sea under the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 and the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Amendment Act 1986.
Global Distribution of plastic pollution: World Data on plastic pollution
World wide graphs and data sets showing what Industrial sectors, countries, persons etc produce the most plastic pollution .
Rivers which carry most plastic pollution to the sea.
Earth Day : Top 20 Countries Ranked by Mass of Mismanaged Plastic Waste
Strategies for the Future
The Australian (21st October, 2019) - new
technology for recycling plastics
that came out of the University of
Sydney.
Dept of Environment and Energy : Australia's first road built with soft plastics
Waste Management Review : ACOR report examines recycled roads
A Running List of Action on Plastic Pollution : National Geographic
If we can’t recycle it, why not turn our waste plastic into fuel?
How to go plastic free for Towns, Schools, Events and Eats.
This Australian innovation helps clean up plastic waste in the world’s oceans
Nations commit to fight plastic pollution together during the UN General Assembly : UN Environment
Solutions and Successes : Reduce / Remove / Reuse & Recycle
Sustainability is not simply about "being green." It is a transformative movement rippling around the globe. NOW is the time for systemic change, to rethink and rework how we live and interact on this planet.
TED Talks about Sustainability
JSTOR -Sustainability and the Environment
Contains commonly used native plants and their cultivars. It currently has 3,800+ plant species with over 5,200 cultivars that are accompanied with 14,000 photographs including images of related pests and insects.
Find out how Australian organisations are doing their part to help Australia meet the Sustainable Development Goals
Open-access Journal Articles
Immunity and Disease
Each disease entry includes basic information (symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment), as well as links to statistics, research, and materials & multimedia (fact sheets, videos, infographics, and podcasts).
Provides basic information on diseases and conditions (symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment).
Read about symptoms, causes, treatment and prevention for over 1000 diseases, illnesses, health conditions and wellness issues. Health topics are regularly reviewed, and links are updated daily.
In addition to basic information about diseases and health issues, the WHO provides global statistics and addresses international issues.
Includes articles on: What is slavery? What is forced labour? What is human trafficking? Face of slavery in Australia
Find out what modern slavery is, all the contemporary forms it takes, and how you can help fight it.
By adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global community has committed to end child labour by 2025 and forced labour and human trafficking by 2030. According to the latest global estimates, 152 million children are in child labour 1 and 25 million adults and children are in forced labour,2 including in global supply chains. To achieve SDG target 8.7, governments, business, the financial sector and civil society must take strong action to address the root causes and determinants of these human rights violations.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) more than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery. Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. Essentially, it refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.
Tackling one of the world’s largest and most complex human rights issues requires serious strategic thinking. We approach this challenge by integrating world class research with direct engagement with some of the world’s most influential government, business and religious leaders.
“Modern slavery is not something that happens ‘over there’ that we don’t have to think about. If we care about the people who make our products we can make a difference.” Walk Free co-founder Grace Forrest, Vogue Australia, July 2018
The continuing existence of slavery in its modern forms is a critical health check on our globalised world including the supply chains of Catholic entities in Australia
Affected for Life promotes awareness of human trafficking. The film illustrates the elements and different forms of human trafficking.
Slavery is all around us.It's been linked to the supply chains of everyday products, from shoes and bags to matches and soccer balls
Three young fashion bloggers spend a month living the life of Cambodian sweatshop workers in Phnom Penh
TED talk: What is the price of cheap labor? Dan Viederman explores how inexpensive items can have a huge price.
TED talk: Since 1999, Dr. Transchel has been researching modern day human trafficking around the world. Her findings, after interviews with dozens of victims, will surprise and shock even those who consider themselves well-informed.
Kevin Bales explains the business of modern slavery, a multibillion-dollar economy that underpins some of the worst industries on earth. He shares stats and personal stories from his on-the-ground research -- and names the price of freeing every slave on earth right now.
Fortescue Metals Group's former CEO and Walk Free Foundation founder Andrew Forrest discusses modern slavery and the fight against human trafficking. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets."
Homelessness is an urgent, shared and solvable problem. Street homelessness affects people in every region of the world — developed and developing — and in the absence of coordinated action globally it is growing. We know that homelessness is solvable because we have seen communities around the world solve it, through a combination of strategy, planning, and political will.
In any form, homelessness happens because people cannot access the housing and supports they need. The immediate cause is often an exogenous shock, such as a health crisis, unexpected lack of employment, or abrupt housing loss due to eviction or domestic violence. But socio-structural factors make certain people especially vulnerable, and gaps in the social safety net and homelessness services systems can extend homelessness or make it more difficult to remain housed.
Although the specifics of who is the most vulnerable tend to change depending on local contexts and socio-economic factors, by and large, already-marginalized populations will be the ones who are most at risk. Globally, certain patterns of homelessness emerge along lines of class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, disability, and age; in addition, there is a complex relationship between homelessness and conflict, which can create populations of people are displaced or stateless, while climate change has increasingly prompted higher migration rates from vulnerable areas.
Substance Use and Homelessness
Substance use in its many forms can be both a cause and a result of homelessness. These behaviors may emerge as coping mechanisms, but often make it harder for people to return to housing. Studies have shown that homeless populations are highly vulnerable to addiction, be it substance use or other behaviors such as problem gambling, with that vulnerability increasing for chronically homeless populations.
Living on the streets contributes to rapid health deterioration, increased hospitalization, and, in some cases, death. For vulnerable subgroups, such as street youth, people with mental illness, young women, and the elderly, the risk of mortality when compared to the housed population can be especially high.
People living with mental health problems and disorders are more susceptible to three key factors that can lead to homelessness: poverty, disaffiliation, and personal vulnerability. Certain disorders can limit individuals' capacity to sustain employment, and as a result they have very little income. Behavioral issues may lead them to withdraw from friends, family and other people, creating a vacuum of support and fewer coping resources in times of trouble. Mental illness can also impair a person’s ability to be resilient and resourceful; it can cloud thinking and impair judgment. For all these reasons, people with mental illness are at greater risk of experiencing homelessness.
Homelessness is a global challenge. The United Nations Human Settlements Program estimates that 1.1 billion people live in inadequate housing, and the best data available suggest that more than 100 million people have no housing at all.
Noun: An extreme shortage of food in one area during a long period of time.
Famine is a widespread condition in which many people in a country or region are unable to access adequate food supplies. Famines result in malnutrition, starvation, disease, and high death rates.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hunger-and-war
Many of the worst contemporary wars are accompanied by mass starvation. In some cases, starvation is used as a weapon.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in four decades. Combined with the sky-rocketing price of food and fuel, 18.4 million people are facing extreme hunger in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
World Vision is responding to the global hunger emergency. In 2022 , they aim to support 15 million people. The hunger crisis has been compounded by climate change, COVID and Conflicts like the war in Ukraine
Content includes viewpoints, journal articles, academic articles, media and primary sources
Contains information on a variety of topics and in a variety of formats
Use for general searches on countries and religions for background reading.
You will need to be a registered user to access content from this huge database.
Includes: JStor, e-books, ProQuest
Using Google for your searches is not enough you need to dig deeper. Try Google Scholar for more academic-related information.
Search our own library catalogue using keywords to locate print, video and electronic resources.
Ten Principles of Catholic Social Teaching from Centacare Brisbane
Catholic Social Teaching Fact sheet from St Vincent de Paul
Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching Summary from the United States Conference of Bishops.
Good and Evil – There is No Such Thing as Evil
Good and evil – It seems the great struggle of good vs. evil is a fallacy. Good exists, but evil does not. By “evil,” we mean the antithesis of good; an exact opposite. A force working in opposition to an equal and contradictory force of good. But this is simply not so. Rather, what we call evil is nothing more than the absence of good.
If God is good, then all He created was good. In this situation, “evil” does not and cannot exist in the physical or spiritual reality that God created. In other words, evil does not exist.
God saw all that He had made, and it was very good (Genesis 1:31).
