Pope Benedict XVI calls the environment problem as " the most serious problem of our time".

Boholano priest, the Very Reverend Tony Pernia, the Superior General of the SVD world-wide, also recently brought the attention of his peers in a speech called: "What if Nature No Longer Sings ? ( Christmas and Climate Change)".

Pernia recalled that the birth of Christ was not just a human and historical event but a cosmic one- an integral dimension of Christmas. That time - the air was cool and fresh, the stars were shining brightly, the shepherds were able to graze their flock in open fields and of course the Earth (through the angels) sang Hallelujah and Peace on Earth to men of Goodwill.

Christ's birth was a moment of celebration - and Nature a co-celebrator.

Even the prophet Isaiah had this prophecy on the advent of Christmas -how nature cosmically responded to His Coming in Isaiah 35:1-7.

"The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will bloom with abundant flowers and rejoice with joyful song.. Streams will burst forth in the desert , and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground,springs of water.
The abode where jackals lurk will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus."

But because of man's folly - much of Nature has been degraded,its laws violated over time.

The unabated emission of greenhouse gases by mankind has increased the warming of the earth , threatening the ecological balance and the health of humans. Unbridled lifestyle emphasizing on consumption and production of unecessary tools for life have likewise created pressure on the environment.

With Christ's second Coming, will Nature be ready to sing the same songs of celebration 2,010 years ago in Bethlehem's manger?

"What if Nature No Longer Sings as it once did?"- a rhetorical but disturbing question addressed to all of us human beings.

The Catholic Church and the SVD have both called for "a simpler lifestyle"and to apply pressure on the recent Copenhagen conferees to pass a globally-binding rule among the 120 participating nations as response to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC).

We have seen unprocessed solid waste clogged waterways and denuded moutains that caused the massive floodings brought by the storms Ondoy and Pepeng. We have seen young schools of fish dynamited to extinction and ducks chocking on wayward plastic bags on rivers.

Use of fuel for transportation and industrial and garbage wastes all contributed to blocking the sky and causing global warming that melts polar glacier caps – causing erosion of shorelines (including eventually Bohol and Boracay), flooding in some countries and drought in others.

Mining, subdivision mania, urbanization and cultivating alternative fuels have limited land into usage other than food - which could lead to a worse hunger crisis in the future. Weather conditions will go extremes- with storms and cyclones becoming more violent, tsunamis more frequent and heat waves and forest fires becoming commonplace in many areas.

The United States, one of the worst climate violators refused to sign the expiring Kyoto Protocol -worried what it will do to their prime industries like automobile-making, oil companies and real estate developers. China wants to place her environment card close to her chest. Both account for 40% of what's environmentally wrong in the earth, for goodness sake. What should the world do with these two countries- their inaction causing climate damage to developing nations mostly?

There indeed is a strong need to re-educate the world populace about the menacing environmental monster that might swallow humankind into utter misery.

The grave implication of waves of human migration -from bad climate stricken countries to the lesser hit ones – is a logistics nightmare in terms of food, shelter and transportation. Its overall implications are apocalyptic in dimension.

We need fully-immersed environmental warriors like Atty Tony Oposa and world-renowned architect Felino "Jun Palafox" of the private sector and senator Loren B. Legarda and Nick Perlas of the public sector mold to advance the cause. But we also need a spiritual dimension to the theme.

It is therefore apropos, that the Church – the spiritual Leader has rediscovered Her prophetic role to voice the warning of climate change and for the faithful to heed the sounds of the church bells pealing.

That bell tolls for all of us mankind. Let us listen and act-before it is too late.