Friday, October 22, 2010

From Holy to Horrific


People seem to ignore global warming and pollution, but its existence proves to be in affect. The Jordan River which travels in Israel, Jordan and Palestine is another outcome of this epidemic. The river is sacred to Christians, because Jesus was baptized in it. Every year numerous Christians travel to this holy river and submerge their body in this water, despite the health hazards. This once clean river is currently composed of sewage, fish pond water, and agricultural waste. Sewage appears to be the most hazardous since several pipes empty its waste into this water. Also people living along the river mimic the pipes actions, and dump waste into it as well. Each year the river deteriorates, and it may disappear completely within the next year. Animals and wildlife have slowly migrated elsewhere, due to the unavailability of fresh water the Jordan River once provided. The shrinking of this river also threatens the Dead Sea because there is hardly any flow from the river, and the rivers' output is toxic. It is quite a tragedy and disappointment that this universally known river has almost disappeared due to a lack of care.

Amber C. Period 3
http://news.discovery.com/history/jordan-river-jesus-baptism.htmlb

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi amber. I don't believe that this is an affect of global warming, but moreso an affect of just terrible pollution and sewage disposal. People who dump this most acidic "crap" (lack of a better word) don't understand hwo it effects the wildlife inhabitants. I agree with you that it is an ongoing problem that I believe will continue on for a long time since people have becomeso ignorant of their actions. They don't understand that the rivers and bodies of water they may be dumping in are holy and sacred to others.

Hannah Vahldick said...

That is terrible, it really bothers me when people say that they do not believe in Global Warming or that their actions have ecological consequesnces when there are so many clear examples proving that not caring for our planet causes great damage.

Rverma said...

Nice post. We definitely need better river protection.

Anonymous said...

That is so sad that people are completely destroyed a sacred river for the Christians. That is disgusting people will still get baptized in there. I don't understand how they don't try and stop the waste from going into the river. And they have driven away the animals that used to live in a what used to be good habitat. It's horrible.

eleonhardt said...

It is unfortunate that this monumental river may soon disappear. The impact of its loss will not only be ecological, but religious as it is the site of Jesus’ baptism. It is also a tragedy that the Jordan River has accumulated so much pollution, threatening the environment as well as the pilgrims who submerge themselves in its waters.

Unknown said...

I find it amazing that we are blind to how quickly we are spoiling the environment. Why do we not care when it is threatening everyday life, and even religion? This reminds me of the Ganges in India, in which people bathe even though the pollution rates are extremely high. We need to wake up now, or this environmental destruction will definitely take a toll on our lives.