Right. We have evidence: there is a problem. And the good news is that we ARE capable of solving it. Human ingenuity is unmatched in the world. Human ingenuity with the moral compass provided by God is a force not to be trifled with. Solving climate change will be hard. Perhaps one of the hardest things we have ever done as a whole. I do not doubt that it is and will be the greatest challenge facing everyone living today.Since 1995 there has been general agreement among those in the scientific community most seriously engaged with this issue that climate change is happening and is being caused mainly by human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels. Evidence gathered since 1995 has only strengthened this conclusion.
Because all religious/moral claims about climate change are relevant only if climate change is real and is mainly human-induced, everything hinges on the scientific data. As evangelicals we have hesitated to speak on this issue until we could be more certain of the science of climate change, but the signatories now believe that the evidence demands action:
In the face of the breadth and depth of this scientific and governmental concern, only a small percentage of which is noted here, we are convinced that evangelicals must engage this issue without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or humanity’s responsibility to address it.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s most authoritative body of scientists and policy experts on the issue of global warming, has been studying this issue since the late 1980s. (From 1988—2002 the IPCC’s assessment of the climate science was Chaired by Sir John Houghton, a devout evangelical Christian.) It has documented the steady rise in global temperatures over the last fifty years, projects that the average global temperature will continue to rise in the coming decades, and attributes “most of the warming” to human activities.
- The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, as well as all other G8 country scientific Academies (Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, and Russia), has concurred with these judgments.
- In a 2004 report, and at the 2005 G8 summit, the Bush Administration has also acknowledged the reality of climate change and the likelihood that human activity is the cause of at least some of it.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Claim 1: Human-induced Climate Change is Real
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Some Interesting Comments From Scientist.
ReplyDelete“Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly….As a scientist I remain skeptical.” - Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who ...has authored more than 190 studies and has been called “among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.”
Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in the history…When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” - UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.
It's good that you want to be good stewards but don't believe in or promote the lie of man made global warming. It does not exist!
Hi Brad,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment and participation in this very important dialogue.
Many of the same scientists believe they have proven we evolved from a pool of ooze. Now that they all agree, do we have enough evidence to promote evolution in our churches and universities as well?
ReplyDeleteI am not arguing against being good stewards of everything God has blessed us with, but I am concerned with our willingness to buy into this teaching. Much of science is political. It is not a pristine work, free of personal or corporate greed. There are corporations benefiting from environmental change just the same as there are benefiting from not changing.
"Sustainability" is going to lead to interesting discussions about population control and other issues that will war with scripture.
I simply recommend a great deal of caution. God's word clearly promotes the salvation of mankind as the most important call of mankind.
No one will argue against clean water - including me, by the way - but people do not want to hear that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. It would be easy for the church to become another environmental activist group. Then everyone would like us. The attention of our young people could be misdirected to saving the planet while missing the call to "seek and save that which was lost."
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteThanks, also, for your contribution to this discussion. I would agree heartily that no science is entirely pristine work, clear from human mistakes. And the point of the Creation Stewardship Initiative, along with other Christian groups focusing on Creation Care is that we come from a Christ-centered perspective- contrary to many environmentalists. Matthew Sleeth has written a book entitled, Serve God Save the Planet; and I like that title for the very reason that it illustrates what comes first. God, then concern and care for what He has given us. This series of posts is quoting from the Evangelical Climate Initiative's Call to Action; of which many prominent Christian folks have signed. I am posting it for the very reason that it will begin a (constructive) conversation on what a CHRISTIAN response is to the question of stewardship (sustainability). You may read the Call to Action and look at the list of signatories on their website, www.christiansandclimate.org.