Christianity and Global Warming

Dr Neil Saintilan, is an environmental scientist. He joined MOBC in 2009. The following is the transcript of an address he gave at MOBC on Sunday 10th January 2010, entitled ‘Christianity and Climate Change’

TRANSCRIPT

Neil Saintilan

January 2010

PART A: God, Man and Nature

1. God in Creation

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made..

Romans 1:20

Similarly

The heavens declare the glory of God

The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech

Night after night they display knowledge

Psalm 19 1-2

The “speech” to which the psalmist refers is the intelligence of God in creation, the magnificence and splendour of the created order and the brilliance of the design.

This is sometimes referred to as Natural revelation, as complimentary to the Special Revelation of scripture. God’s intention is that the natural world would point people to Him, and indicate both his power and also his divine nature (ie not just that a creator exists).

That is, there are three things communicated through the natural world

(i) that God is brilliant- that there is a divine “logos” that underpins creation and which can be discovered through scientific research. Many scientists are motivated by this quest, which Proverbs describes as the privilege of kings. Einstein’s assessment that ‘God is a mathematician”.

(ii) That God is powerful (Elohim) – revealed by the enormity of creation and the forces which are evident, and which speak of the divine power of the creator.

(iii) That God is merciful (Jehovah Jirah)- “God is our provider”

An example of God’s particular concern for our provision is the atmosphere which sustains life. The atmosphere provides for us and protects us in a number of ways which might not be immediately obvious:

(i) contains gasses in the precise quantity required to sustain life (provide oxygen for respiration but not so much that wildfires are uncontrollable, carbon dioxide for photosynthesis),

(ii) protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation, burns up most of the meteorite debris that would otherwise damage the planet’s surface

(iii) warms the surface of the world. Without an atmosphere the average surface temperature would be -19 degrees Celsius, impossible for life to thrive. Instead, the average temperature is 14 degrees.

(iv) maintains the water cycle, transforming evaporated water into clouds which send rainfall across the land, watering the continents

Psalm 104

O Lord my God, you are very great;

You are clothed with splendour and majesty

He wraps himself in light as with a garment;

He stretches out the heavens like a tent

And lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters

He makes the clouds his chariot

And rides on the wings of the wind

….He waters the mountains from his upper chambers

The earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work

He makes grass grow for the cattle

And plants for man tot cultivate- bringing forth food from the earth…

The trees of the Lord are well watered

The cedars of Lebanon that he planted

There the birds make their nests

The stork has its home in the pine trees

The high mountains belong to the wild goats

The crags are a refuge to the coneys

God is intimately involved in sustaining the “ecology” of the planet, and gives thought to the requirements of all living things.

V 27: These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time

When you give it to them, they gather it up:

When you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things

When you hide your face they are terrified

When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust

God orders the life and death of all living creatures in nature

2. Nature and Spirituality

Continuing in Psalm 104, we see the proper response this revelation should bring:

33-34: I will sing to the Lord all my life

I will sing praise to my God as ling as I live

May the meditation be pleasing to him

As I rejoice in the Lord

Meditating on the beauty and harmony of nature, and offering God praise for his created world is pleasing to him.

The simple act of worship is pleasing to God. That nature is “other” than human thought, it should turn our attention to God – indeed, this is part of the purpose of creation. (to bring glory and praise to God and in particular to the Word of God)

3. The role of Stewardship

The bible gets the balance right

Genesis 1. 26: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

And so the bible establishes a balance between

(i) recognising the creator in the created world, his role in sustaining the ecology of the planet, and having a proper response of honour, enjoyment and worship, and

(ii) being given the delegated right to use the resources of the world for the betterment of humanity.

It is this balance that we struggle with today, far more-so than when the scriptures were written.

The scriptures were written in an agrarian society in which the area of land cultivated was small compared to the area of wilderness, and in which war, plague and natural catastrophe would often cause the encroachment of wilderness upon the boundaries of civilisation.

It was not until the end of the 19^th century that the frontier was formally closed in the USA: the same period in which the first National Park was established (Yellowstone- 1872). From encircling and threatening civilisation nature now was enclosed and in need of protection.

Throughout the following century the recognition grew that our efficiency in harvesting the resources of the earth outstripped the capacity of the earth to provide these services, and that regulation of our use was required to ensure long-term sustainability.

This is simply a maturing of our role of stewards of creation, and accepting responsibility for the long-term benefit of the plant and humanity. We do not err on the side of eco-centric philosophy, that says that we manage the earth for the benefit of creation. The natural world was created neither for the benefit of animals and plants nor for the benefit of man but for the worship of God (all things were created by him and for him : Philippians 1:16). Nor do we err on the side of harvesting beyond the capacity of earth to provide, and so damaging the capacity of the planet to provide these services (including the wonderment of biodiversity and natural landscapes) to future generations. We take responsibility as stewards to use the wealth of the earth for the benefit of this and future generations.

PART B: Global Warming

1. 1. Origins and explanation
   1. Natural Greenhouse effect- energy enters the atmosphere as light from the sun. It is emitted back into space as heat from the earth. Gasses in the atmosphere (water vapour, CO₂, methane) reflect some of this heat back towards the earth
   2. Solar activity explains warming to the mid 20^th- century but not the warming since
   3. Most warming over the past 3 decades believed to be due to greenhouse gases (CO₂, methane) though CO₂ effect offset to some degree by increases in particulate pollution

2. The IPCC process

The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established as a joint initiative of the United Nations Environmental Program and the World Meteorological Organisation to synthesise the findings of scientific research into Climate Change. Over this time the IPCC has presented its findings in four periodic reports, the most recent being in 2007. The fourth assessment report was compiled over four years by 1319 of the world’s most eminent scientists nominated by the member countries of the United Nations. These experts were divided into three working groups, covering the physical science basis of climate change, the projected impacts of climate change and the mitigation of climate change. Collectively, the working groups reviewed 18 000 scientific publications in compiling their draft reports. These were then reviewed by 2300 independent experts who made 90 000 comments and suggestions for improvement of the draft.

For this work, the contributing scientists of the fourth assessment report were awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Work on the 5^th Assessment report is underway and will report in 2013/2014.

While the IPCC process does not represent scientific unanimity is does represent scientific consensus.

3. The 4^th Assessment Report findings

• Temperatures globally have increased by 0.7 degrees in the last 100 years.

• increases in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations is very likely to have caused most of the increases in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century

• Sea-levels rose by 1.8 mm/year 1961-2003 and 3.1 mm/yr 1995-2003.

Projections

• Temperatures to increase 1.8 degrees by 2100 low CO₂ scenario, and 4.0 degrees high scenario (ie, no action)
• Sea-levels to rise 18-38 cm low CO₂ scenario, and 26-59cm high scenario

In Australia

• CSIRO modelling has linked prolonged drought in SE Australia with climate change.
• Coastal recession is a likely outcome of higher sea-levels

Note that not all outcomes of climate change will be negative. Some are positive, including on average greater plant growth, and less severe winters. One can imagine by contrast the devastating impact the inverse (global cooling and CO₂ depletion) would have on agricultural systems. Humanity has become used to stable temperature conditions through the last several thousand years, though this is unusual in the context of geological time.

Nor is global warming an acute problem- it will not cause mass extinctions of plants and animals in the short term or threaten the integrity of the planet’s life support systems in the foreseeable future. The problem is a chronic problem requiring long-term solutions. It is true though that the sooner we start the less difficult this transition will be.

4. Copenhagen

Considered an important step in the right direction, though not the definitive response many were looking for. The primary outcomes were:

1. 1. Agreement to attempt to stabilise CO2 levels at 450 ppm in an attempt to limit temperature rise to 2 degrees.
   2. Wealthy countries to commit 10-12 billion to poorer countries to assist in transition to cleaner technologies over the next two years, and increasing over the course of the century.
   3. No legally binding treaties or firm national targets but an agreement to continue the process of negotiation
   4. Maintaining the Kyoto Protocol which aims to stabilise emissions below 1990 levels

PART C: Christian Responsibility

1. Being well informed

More than one third of evangelical Christians surveyed in the US did not believe that anthropogenic climate change was real, the highest proportion of any group surveyed. A quick internet search of “Christianity and global warming” will reveal a prevalence of climate change scepticism. My search results ranged from the Family Research Council “Global warming is a leftist agenda that threatens evangelical unity…” to the Mathaba.net at the other extreme “Christianity isn’t like global warming, it is global warming. It created global warming”

Christians interested in this issue should gain their information from reputable sources. The most comprehensive summaries are the IPCC assessment reports (available on line). The on-line encyclopaedia Wikipedia provides a very useful and comprehensive summary of the issues in language accessible to the lay person.

Christians should bring a distinctive note of optimism, wisdom and justice to the debate over global warming.

2. Concern for the Poor (love thy neighbour)

Environmental catastrophe disproportionately affects the poor. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, poorer people are relegated to living in riskier environments, such as those areas more vulnerable to storm surge and flood. Secondly, the poor have less resources and options for adaptation and are more likely to be exposed to the full impact of environmental hazard. The impact of Hurricane Katrina was a good example, with most of the fatalities and dislocation borne by the poorer, predominantly black residents of New Orleans.

For similar reasons the communities most adversely affected by Global Warming are likely to be the economically disadvantaged. Sea-level rise, for example, is most likely to impact predominantly low-lying coastal communities including Bangladesh (two thirds of which is vulnerable to storm surge under global warming), and oceanic island states such as Kiribati and the Maldives. (note the nations advocating the heaviest cuts to emissions in Copenhagen were the poorest nations- the G77).

In Australia, the effect of higher temperatures will be most acute in already hot northern Australian and interior communities, and felt most keenly by those without the means to relieve these effects (through air conditioning etc). That is, aboriginal communities, already socially and economically disadvantaged, will feel the brunt of the effects of a 2-3 degree increase in temperatures to 2100.

The church has a legitimate role in exploring the social impacts of climate change and assessing the distribution of risk between rich and poor. Action on climate change represents a transfer of risk from those least able to adapt to those most able to adapt.

3. Accepting responsibility

There are several good reasons to begin the switch from carbon-based energy consumption:

1. The prevalence of petrochemical reserves in countries with fundamentalist Islamic regimes, and the use of the profits to bankroll Islamic fundamentalism world-wide
2. The danger posed by carbon both as an atmospheric pollutant and in underground mining, which claims hundreds of lives each year
3. The fact that fossil fuel reserves are limited

There are several short-term and long-term candidates which are safe, clean, economical and renewable. Even if doubts remain about the effects of carbon dioxide on the global atmosphere, and the pros and cons of these effects, there are sound reasons to promote the development of alternative technologies. An emissions trading scheme is an effective way of promoting reductions in carbon emissions while funding the development of alternative technologies, as has been demonstrated by the ETS adopted by the European Union more than a decade ago.

GERRY BALL’s PRAYER (Prayed at MOBC on 10/01/10)

Our Lord and God, we come in worship before you today to praise you for this wonderful world in which we live and to acknowledge you as the great Creator of all that is. You own the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine. The wonders we observe in the heavens above, and the beauty that we see around us give testimony to your greatness and goodness. And we come, as part of your creation, to give you humble thanks that we have access to your presence throught he Lord Jesus, and can call you Father.

We acknowledge that you have given us, men and women, responsibility of being stewards of all that you have given to us,. Father, surrounded as we are by the evidences of climate change, and confronted by the findings of scientists that we have contributed to the present dangers that face the natural world; we come to confess that we have been poor stewards.

Human greed has led us to plunder the wealth of what you have given, In these days in which we are living, we bring before you the tensions that have risen between our nation and Japan over whaling in the Southern Ocean. We pray for wisdom for the leaders of both countries that whaling may cease, that the balances of nature may be restored, and that peace and friendship may prevail in international affairs.

The failure of the hopes with which the world faced the recent conference in Copenhagen tells us that we need wisdom in handling the huge issues that face us all. Remind us constantly of the promise of Scripture, “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, as God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.”

Forgive us if we seek to escape our own responsibilities as stewards and ease our consciences by telling ourselves that the problems are for others to handle and are too big for us to trouble ourselves with. Forgive us, who live in this land of plenty, our carelessness in the use of resources and our selfishness in pleasing ourselves while we disregard the needs of others.

Make us good stewards of what we call our own. In the face of global poverty we are rich. Give us generous hearts. Make us good stewards of all that your grace has given to us, and help us so to live that our lives may confirm the testimony of our words.

Father, we come as your children, brought into the family of your live through our Saviour, the Lord Jesus, seeking your blessing as we continue to worship you, and asking your grace and power for the one who brings to us your word this day.

May yours be the glory in all that we do, through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN.