God established a covenant with Noah that never again would the waters rise and destroy all flesh. Yet as the earth’s atmospheric temperatures increase, the waters are rising and life as we know it is in danger. This covenant advises us:

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the land.              Genesis (Bereishis) 9:2
Flesh with its soul [in] its blood you shall not eat. Genesis (Bereishis) 9:4
For every man [for that of] his brother I will demand the soul.  Genesis (Bereishis) 9:5

Humankind has honored the covenant in multiplying and in implementing just punishment for the taking of another man’s life. So as the waters rise, we are left to question whether or not we are upholding our part of the covenant: “Flesh with its soul [in] its blood you shall not eat.”

What exactly does this mean? The 2006 United Nations report on climate change states that: “The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” This book discusses the ramifications of humankind’s omnivorous diet as it relates to health and disease, water pollution, land deprivation, and atmospheric pollution.
It seems that God truly does want humankind to act mercifully towards other beings and that it must if we wish to save our blessed planet. Let us begin.