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Brooklyn Wiens
Dr. Francis Umesiri
Physical Science: GCS 1023
14 December 2015
Why Is Earth So Special?
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, Glory! Psalm 29 1-9 (Zondervan. New International
Version, Ps. 29. 1-9)
Why is the Earth so special? God has designed a world with wonders beyond
understanding. He alone is the creator and sustainer of all life and to Him all credit is due.
As humans on this planet that He created, it is our joy and our responsibility to have
dominion over all that it is within the world, caring for it as the Creator would have us
care for His creation. Genesis 1:26 -31says,
Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they
may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all

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the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God
created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and
female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and
increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the
birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God
said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every
tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30And to all the
beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along
the groundeverything that has the breath of life in itI give every green plant for
food. And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And
there was evening, and there was morningthe sixth day. (Zondervan. Gen. 1. 2631)
Many waters seems to be an understatement when giving thought to all of the water
around the world. The Earth is a very watery place. About 71 percent of the Earths
surface is covered in water. You might first think of oceans taking up all of that
percentage but they only accumulates for 96.5 percent of it. Water is also found in things
like rivers, lakes, glaciers, icecaps, in water vapor, and soil moisture in the ground. What
we do not often think about is the water pollution that occurs from the contamination of
these water bodies. This happens when pollutants are purposefully or accidentally poured
out into water bodies without the right amount of treatment to remove the harmful
substances. The temperature change of water is something we need to be aware of as
well. As climate change has warmed the Earth, oceans have responded more slowly than
land environments. But scientific research is finding that marine ecosystems can be far

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more sensitive to even the most modest temperature change. Global warming caused by
human activities that emit heat-trapping carbon dioxide has raised the average global
temperature by about 1F (0.6C) over the past century. In the oceans, this change has
only been about 0.18F (0.1C). This warming has occurred from the surface to a depth
of about 2,300 feet (700 meters), where most marine life thrives (Sea Temperature
Rise). This might not seem like much of a problem to humans, but it has an effect on the
creatures that call the ocean home. For example, in the ocean, coral is the organism that is
most vulnerable to temperature change. There is evidence that shows that even a slight
continual temperature change will cause reefs to bleach or eject their symbiotic algae.
When coral bleaches it slows their growth, makes them prone to disease, and can lead to
the reef dying off at a large scale. Another consequence of water pollution to consider is
the higher sea levels. We know that when water heats up it expands. A result of this
expansion is the rise in sea level. Sea level rising can cause overrun and flooding of
habitats along the coast as well as destruction of plants and animals and the result of
shoreline erosion. These things may seem like things we cannot change or control but
there are practical ways we can reduce this climate change problem. Things such as when
you are going to run the clothes washer or dishwasher, only use them when you have a
full load because this will conserve water and electricity. Also only use the minimum
amount of bleach or phosphate free detergent needed when washing clothes or dishes.
When you are cooking, avoid pouring things like fat, oil, or grease down the sink. Instead
pour these things into a jar and discard it in the solid waste when the liquid has hardened
and the jar is full. In addition when cooking, choose not to use the garbage disposal.
Instead, keep solid wastes solid and make a compost pile from things like old pasta,

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vegetable scraps, or coffee grounds. As stewards of Gods Earth, it is our responsibility to
take part in taking care of what has been given to us. Genesis 2:15 says, The Lord God
took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
(Zondervan. Gen. 2. 15)
Forests are also a big part of the Earths make up. Forests cover approximately
9.4% of the Earths surface. However, they once covered over 50% (Johnson). Trees are
not the only things that make up forests. Its ecosystem is made up of many species such
as animals, insects, smaller plants, bacteria, and fungi. Deforestation, which is the
clearing of Earths forests on a massive scale, which often results in damaging the quality
of the land, is something that has been going on for a long time. Forests are cut down for
many reasons, agriculturally for providing more room for pastures for livestock to graze
on or for planting crops in well-fertilized soil as well as for the use of creating settlements
to build on. Logging operations, which provide the worlds paper and wood products,
also cut down an enormous amount of trees each year. Deforestation has many negative
effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of
species. Seventy percent of Earths land animals and plants live in forests, and many
cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes (Deforestation Facts).
Deforestation is also a causes climate change. Soil in forests is moist because of the trees
that block the sun, so without the protection of them the ground would dry out very
quickly. Trees also return water vapor back into the atmosphere, which in return helps
preserve the water cycle. Without trees to fill these roles, forests can quickly become
dried up deserts. Removing trees also takes away a percentage of the forests canopy,
which holds in the heat from the sun at night and blocks the suns rays during the day.

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This disruption leads to more severe temperature changes that can be hazardous to other
plants and animals. And finally, trees play a key role in absorbing the greenhouse gases
that feed global warming. The result of fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse
gases invading into the atmosphere, which then increases the speed and seriousness of
global warming.
The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees.
Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities
make this unlikely to occur. A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest
resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain
intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough
young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number of new
tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the
Earths forested land (Deforestation Facts).
Earthquakes around the Earth are a common occurrence and they are affected by
current trends in the energy industry. My home state is Oklahoma, which now has the
highest rate of earthquakes in the world. The website earthquakes.ok.gov was created to
share information about what is happening and to answer questions of people who are
shaken.
We know that Oklahoma experienced 109 magnitude 3+ earthquakes in 2013 and
five times that amount in 2014. The pace of earthquake activity has accelerated in
2015. The current average rate of earthquakes is approximately 600 times historical
averages.
While we understand that Oklahoma has historically experienced some level of

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seismicity, we know that the recent rise in earthquakes cannot be entirely attributed
to natural causes. Seismologists have documented the relationship between
wastewater disposal and triggered seismic activity. The Oklahoma Geological
Survey has determined that the majority of recent earthquakes in central and northcentral Oklahoma are very likely triggered by the injection of produced water in
disposal wells. Oklahomas response to the recent rise in earthquakes is constantly
evolving based on the growing body of knowledge dedicated to exploring the issue
(What We Know).
What is the difference between a triggered earthquake and a natural earthquake? A
triggered earthquake happens when there is a naturally occurring defect in the Earths
crust that can possibly slip and be triggered by some other event, like another earthquake
or a man made event. A naturally occurring earthquake is the result of natural movements
along the defects in the Earths crust. A theory for the cause of Oklahomas earthquakes is
the exploration of oil and gas, which takes place quite frequently. This theory is not
completely true. Most seismologists agree that the main causing source of triggered
earthquakes is from subsequent discarding of produced water, rather than hydraulic
fracturing. This leads to the question of how produced water is different than wastewater
from a hydraulic fracture. Produced water is water that is produced as a byproduct along
with oil and gas under the ground. As oil and gas is drawn out from the ground, the
produced water is separated and most times forced deep beneath the surface into wells
developed to protect groundwater resources. The extraction of oil and gas and the
disposal of produced water are all distinct events in the production process of oil and gas.
The amount of produced water developed from the production of oil and gas is many

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times much more than the amount of wastewater that comes from a hydraulic fracturing
operation. Wastewater disposal wells are used to get rid of produced water that is
associated with the production of oil and natural gas. These are known as Class II wells.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission administers the allowance and use of Class II
disposal wells in Oklahoma. This issue on earthquakes has caused much controversy.
The role that fracking plays in the rise of earthquakes has been hugely
controversial in Oklahoma, where one in five jobs is tied to the oil and gas industry.
This year, as Bloomberg reported, seismologists at the Oklahoma Geological
Survey were pressured by oil companies not to make a link between the
earthquakes and fracking-related wastewater injection wells. Under the weight of
mounting scientific evidence, Republican Governor Mary Fallin's administration in
April finally acknowledged the role fracking played in earthquake activity
(Philips).
Even within my own family and friends, there are strong opinions about the causes and
solutions for these earthquakes that are unsettling our area.
The biblical term steward signifies a manager who is in charge of the possessions
and property of another. Therefore, a steward is not an owner of the things, but rather one
who has the responsibility of an owner to treat property with respect and caution as if it
were his own. Thus, the term stewardship refers to the responsibility of a steward to
wisely be in charge of and take care of someone elses property. We are stewards of the
Earth. We do not own anything in it, but we get to have the responsibility of taking care
of it in a manner pleasing to The Lord. In our culture today, there are different
understandings of the word stewardship as it relates to our responsibility. One way that

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the word is used is related to our possessions. It is a reminder that the things that we own
have only been entrusted to us by God, they are not really ours. It is common practice to
be proud of all that we have achieved and the things we have purchased. This
understanding of stewardship reminds us to be humble and grateful. The more original
definition of stewardship correlates to our responsibility in caring for the earth and all
that is within it as explained in Genesis 1 and 2. The various crises we see with global
climate change, ozone layer, extinction of animal species may be seen as a lack of
stewardship of the human race. It is not the responsibility of the animals, insects, birds, or
dinosaurs to care for the earth but it is our responsibility as people. How can we do
better? How can we do more in the role that God has given to us?
When we step back and look at the big picture, we can see that the Earth is very
special and unique. The Earths waters, forests, and earthquakes are only a few examples
of its greatness. It is a privilege that we were put on Earth, the only planet known to
support life, and we are given the responsibility of taking care of and serving as stewards
of such a special planet.
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace.
Psalm 29: 10-11 (Zondervan. Ps. 29. 10-11)

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Work Cited
"Deforestation Facts, Deforestation Information, Effects of
Deforestation - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Dec. 2015.
"Deforestation Facts, Deforestation Information, Effects of
Deforestation - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Dec. 2015.
Johnson, Bryan. "Top 10 Strange and Unique Forests - Listverse."
Listverse. N.p., 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
Philips, Matthew. "Oklahoma Earthquakes Are A National Security
Threat." Bloomberg Business. N.p., 23 Oct. 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
"Sea Temperature Rise -- Pristine Seas -- National Geographic."
National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
"What We Know." Earthquakes in Oklahoma. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec.
2015.
Zondervan NIV Study Bible: New International Version. Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Print.
Zondervan NIV Study Bible: New International Version. Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Print.
Zondervan NIV Study Bible: New International Version. Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Print.
Zondervan NIV Study Bible: New International Version. Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Print.

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