Interfaith Perspectives on Climate and Air
Earth's Climate Embraces Us All
A Plea from Religion and Science for Action on Global Climate Change

May 2004

We are people of religious life and people of science who travel diverse, individual paths in our search for truth. Over centuries, our communities have disagreed, sometimes contentiously, about fundamental questions of human origin, nature, and purpose.

At this critical moment in history, however, many of us share a deep conviction that global climate change presents an unprecedented threat to the integrity of life on Earth and a challenge to universal values that bind us as human beings.
Each of our two communities is seeking to contribute to a better, broader understanding of this issue and its larger meaning.

Highly regarded institutions in the international scientific community have reached a broad consensus on causes and potential consequences of climate change. Citing "discernable human influence on global climate," the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that the current atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the main human-made greenhouse gas affected by human activity, has not been exceeded during the past 420,000 years and likely not during the past 20 million years.

How does a congregation reduce its contribution to the problem of global climate change?

According to a 2001 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, "Climate change simulations for the period of 1990 to 2100 based on the IPCC emissions scenarios yield a globally-averaged surface temperature increase by the end of the century of 1.4 to 5.8 C (2.5 to 10.4F) relative to 1990... Even in the more conservative scenarios, the models project temperatures and sea levels that continue to increase well beyond the end of this century."

Among the predicted consequences of climate change are more frequent occurrences of heat waves, drought, torrential rains, and floods; global sea level rise of between one-half and three feet; increase of tropical diseases in now-temperate regions; significant reduction in biodiversity. All these conditions would seriously affect human health and well-being. And, according to the IPCC, "the impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately upon developing countries and the poor persons within all countries, and thereby exacerbate inequities in health status and access to adequate food, clean water, and other resources."

When "discernable human influence" is determined to be a cause of destruction, we are dealing with moral and ethical concerns as well as scientific and policy issues. For many, these are shaped by religious conviction.

For example, in Judeo-Christian scripture, all creation, by God's handicraft, is deemed "good." Because "the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" (Psalms 24:1), its gifts are intended for the benefit of all. Humans are called into covenant with their creator as stewards of life. In love, we care for the conditions of one another's well-being; in justice we attend first to the needs of the most vulnerable. When significant danger threatens, the traditional value of prudence requires us to prevent damage to the common good. All these obligations apply to the protection of future generations.

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