On July 7, 2007, the Jerusalem Post had an article, “Israel urged to ‘act now’ or risk global warming tragedy.” The article discussed a report of the Israeli Union for Environmental Defense (Adam, Teva, v’Din) which stated that unless significant changes soon occurred, Israel would face severe problems from climate change, including: an average temperature rise of 3.3 degrees Celsius [well above the two degrees Celsius rise that climate experts say will be catastrophic]; an annual rainfall decrease of 20-30 percent, with much of the rain coming from sporadic, intense storms that will cause flooding in some areas; an expansion of the Negev desert; and a flooding of the entire coastline due to a rising Mediterranean Sea, which will cause “irreparable damage to essential infrastructure like ports and power plants, as well as residential areas along the shore.” Recent reports of severe heat waves, droughts, storms, floods, and wildfires worldwide indicate that we have very little time to make necessary changes.

Unfortunately, relatively little has been done in Israel and worldwide to try to stabilize the climate. It is time to make tikkun olam (the healing and repair of the world) a central focus of all aspects of Jewish life today, in order to help shift our imperiled world to a sustainable path.