EarthBeat

A drone view Sept. 29 shows a damaged area in Asheville, North Carolina, following the passing of Tropical Storm Helene. The storm made landfall at 11:10 p.m. (Eastern time) Sept. 27 in Florida's Big Bend as a Category 4 hurricane and was downgraded to a tropical storm the next morning. (OSV News/Reuters/Marco Bello)

Sign up for EarthBeat Weekly newsletter

About EarthBeat

The climate is changing,
a matter of moral urgency.

How Catholics and other faith groups speak out and take action. Where ecological concerns and moral conviction meet, well that's our beat.

Sections

The four stand or sit, in the background is enormous vista.

Faith

Mountain-climbing monks enjoy views, brews and Mass on Pacific Northwest peaks

In a summer of firsts, mountain-climbing Benedictine monks of Mount Angel Abbey took to the heights — their locally brewed beer tucked in backpacks — ascending renowned peaks in the Pacific Northwest during the season's brief window of opportunity.

A new rooftop solar array at Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Cataño, a town bordering the San Juan Bay in Puerto Rico, will serve as a source of community resilience in the face of future climate disasters. (Courtesy of Lissette A. Avilés-Ríos)

Science

Puerto Rico parish aims to be climate resilience hub to respond to extreme storms

Rather than rely on the unstable electric grid in Puerto Rico, Nuestra Señora del Carmen Parish opted for solar, with hopes of serving as a climate resilience hub to prepare for future storms.

Rebecca Randall

The presenters stand behind Sister Wangare who speaks at podium.

Politics

African faith leaders and environmentalists push for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

On Sept.10, Catholic Bishop Leonard Ndjadi Ndjate, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the treaty was an ethical imperative that served the best interest of humanity.

A helicopter in Nespelem, Wash., prepares to drop water on the Chuweah Creek Fire July 14, 2021. The Northwest United States experienced record-breaking high temperatures from late June through mid-July 2021. (CNS/Reuters/David Ryder)

Justice

With $20M EPA grant, Gonzaga looks to build climate resilience in Spokane

With a $20 million EPA grant, "we are not only addressing immediate environmental challenges but also building a sustainable, resilient future for our community," said Thayne McCulloh, president of Gonzaga University.

Brian Roewe

Mary Beth Keenan's daughter touches daffodils in their yard. (Courtesy of Mary Beth Keenan)

Small Earth Stories

Faith and a forest preschool help our family care for creation

Mary Beth Keenan

After "Bluey," the Holy Spirit and Google led this mom to enroll her 3-year-old in a forest school, her whole family learned more about caring for creation and cultivating community — with human and nonhuman friends.

Submit your Small Earth story