A Christian argument for action on Climate Change

How do climate sceptics respond to the cloud of witnesses for global warming? By denying the full body of evidence. ……There are similar false arguments against clean energy. ……

The crux of climate change for Christians is the poorest, most vulnerable countries are those hardest hit by global warming.

The poor are least able to adapt to the impact of climate change and ironically, have contributed least to it. The carbon footprint of the poorest 1 billion people on the planet is estimated to be around 3% of the world’s total footprint. This is the social injustice of climate change: poor, developing countries will suffer because of the fossil fuels emitted by developed nations..

Eternity 16 Aug 11, John Cook a leading campaigner on climate change and, yes, a Christian too, puts the case for taking action.“…….Just as an Old Testament judge required multiple witnesses, scientists look for multiple sources of evidence. Our understanding is considered robust when scientists have found independent measurements all pointing to a single, consistent conclusion.
On the question of global warming, natural witnesses are found in our climate. Warming is directly measured by thermometers scattered across the globe, which find that the two hottest years on record were 2005 and 2010.
In addition, we have many natural thermometers painting a similar picture. Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are dissipating at an accelerating rate, shedding hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice every year. Scientists are observing tens of thousands of species shift towards cooler regions. Arctic sea ice is melting faster than even the worst- case predictions. Even tree-lines are shifting in response to warming temperatures.

To properly understand what’s happening to our climate, we must listen to all the witnesses and consider the full body of evidence. The consonance of evidence paints an unmistakable picture of a warming planet.
How do climate sceptics respond to the cloud of witnesses for global warming? By denying the full body of evidence. A common claim is that we haven’t seen warming over the last 15 years. To do this, they ignore the witness of the ice sheets, the testimony of shrinking glaciers, the evidence of shifting seasons and the inarguable fact of rising sea levels.
Selective cherry-picking occurs in arguments against climate action. ……
There’s a Yiddish proverb that states “a half-truth is a whole lie”. When someone only focuses on one aspect of the carbon price without mentioning compensation, they’re painting a misleading picture.

There are similar false arguments against clean energy.

Wind power is a vital piece of the renewable energy puzzle. With a network of wind farms spread out over a wide region – supplemented with gas turbines – power supply is relatively predictable and able to provide baseload power.
The chief argument against wind power is that wind at a single location is intermittent and unreliable. But this doesn’t give you the full picture. Wind power isn’t designed to come from a single location but from wind farms geographically distributed across regions with different wind regimes……
The crux of climate change for Christians is the poorest, most vulnerable countries are those hardest hit by global warming.

http://eternity.biz/news/climate_debate_the_believer/1108151607/

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August 16, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change, Religion and ethics

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