4 CHAPTER ONE What is happening to our common home This first chapter of the encyclical takes a frank look at the facts of our world so that the reader might “become painfully aware” of the ways we have not been protecting and caring for the place we call ‘home.’ I Pollution and Climate Change Our throwaway culture vs the common good Pollution (atmospheric fumes and smoke, acidification of soil and water, millions of tons of waste) is a global health hazard. The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like and immense pile of filth (20), often with little being done until the effects are irreversible. The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all (22). The grave environmental, social, economic and political implications of climate change, however, affect the poor more than anyone else. Our lack of response to these tragedies involving our brothers and sisters points to the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded (25). II The Issue of Water The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits The supply, quality and wastage of water is an issue of primary importance (28), particularly for the poor of the world who experience suffering and high rates of infant mortality due to this problem. While access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right (30), privatization of this resource turns water into a commodity subject to the laws of the market (30), and this could even become a source of global conflict in the near future. Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water (30). Let us “turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering...to discover what each of us can do about it” (19) What is needed is CARE - which we develop through gazing on creation with a contemplative spirit
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