New Community Project - Who are we?

The New Community Project is a faith-based nonprofit organization with the modest goal of changing the world! People are struggling, the earth is a mess, God's not amused, and we all know something's not right here. Our mission is to provide experiences that change us, resources that challenge us, and a community that gives us hope. Learn more about our programs and projects here and read about one specific area of our work below. Glad to have you along!

Every picture tells a story: Global Warming

I used to think we could fell the forests and foul the streams, but at least we couldn't mess with the weather. Silly me.

Everything everywhere will be impacted by climate change.

Natural systems—Antarctica is set to lose an ice field the size of Connecticut . I have no idea how big Connecticut is, but if it's a state-sized chunk of ice, it has to be big. Greenland is melting at 220 cubic kilometers a year (for perspective, Los Angeles uses one cubic kilometer per year). If it ever all goes, it will raise global sea levels by 23 feet.

Living things—One-quarter of all land-based species could be on the road to extinction by mid-century—that's over a million species. Coral reefs face increased bleaching as oceans warm—these systems currently account of $375 billion in annual economic gain to humankind (fish production, storm buffers, and tourism).

People—Up in the Arctic my friend Charlie Swaney of the Gwich'in community of Arctic Village , AK told me recently of a polar bear shot in the Gwich'in community of Fort Yukon —280 miles south of the Bering Sea . It was the first time it's ever happened. “Global warming,” was his two-word comment. The bears aren't able to feed themselves along the coast, wander southward, get lost in the forest, and end up where they don't belong. Guess you might say ‘environmental refugees.' The climate is warming faster at the poles than anywhere else on earth, and the ecosystem they depend on is becoming unpredictable: fishing lakes shrinking as the permafrost thaws and the water seeps into the ground; caribou shifting their migratory routes as plant growth patterns change; seeing salmon for the first time in the Chandalar River beside their village. “Good for us,” Charlie said, “But what about the people somewhere else who were depending on those salmon for their food supply?”

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