A German author recently noted, “July and August 2021 have been marked by extreme weather conditions—from drought and fires in Southern Europe, Russia and North America to severe flooding in Western Europe, Africa and Asia” (Deutsche Welle, August 10, 2021). Flooding and drought are on the rise around the globe!

Famed Chesapeake Bay is bordered by the American states of Maryland and Virginia. The bay is home to vast numbers of wildlife above and beneath the water. It provides seafood—including crabs and oysters—to millions of people and brings in revenues in excess of $600 million annually (The Guardian, August 11, 2021). This body of water is also flanked by more than a dozen U.S. military facilities that contaminate the groundwater feeding the Chesapeake.

According to Dr. Dave Goulson, a professor of biology at the University of Sussex, the insect population of the globe has probably declined by some 75 percent in the last 50 years. The sobering significance of this precipitous decline of insects is that “our world will slowly grind to a halt, for it cannot function without them” (The Guardian, July 25, 2021). Dr.

The European Union began discussing an EU army in 1999 and set up combat-ready battle groups in 2007—however, the battle groups have not yet been used (Euractive, May 6, 2021).