Read here about climate change - what causes it, what its impacts are, and why this is important for people of faith.   

The Problem

What is the Cause?

A Religious Conversation

What to Do?

The Problem 

The world is warming up. Eleven of the last 12 years (1995 to 2006) are among the 12 warmest on record. Global average temperatures have increased by 0.7 degrees Celsius over the last century. Seas are rising. Snow and ice cover are declining. Permafrost is melting.

The increase in global temperature is unevenly distributed across the globe, as are other changes in climate. Increased incidence of droughts, floods, storms and heat waves are experienced differentially in different parts of the world. These changes in the climate are known as climate change.

Climate change affects natural and human systems in many ways. Increased incidence of drought in Australia and Africa impacts on agriculture. Heat waves are resulting in an increase in heat-related mortality in Europe. Pacific Islanders are being inundated by seas.

What is the Cause?The Scientific Explanation

Overwhelmingly, scientific opinion attributes the cause of climate change to human activities which have enhanced the greenhouse effect.

What is the Greenhouse Effect?

The earth's atmosphere has a warming effect on the earth. Light energy from the sun passes through the atmosphere. Some of this energy is reflected directly back into space. But some is absorbed by the earth and radiated as heat energy. "Greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere trap much of this heat, preventing it from escaping into outer space. This is known as the greenhouse effect. Without it, the earth would be very much colder than it is!

What is the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect? 

Since industrialization, human activities have dramatically increased the emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, thereby enhancing greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important of these gases, and is produced primarily through the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), and also through landuse changes (e.g. deforestation). Methane (NH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are other important greenhouse gases. Methane is primarily produced from agricultural activities and fossil fuel use, and nitrous oxide is produced from agricultural activities. Atmospheric concentrations of these greenhouse gases by far exceed the natural range for the last 650,000 years. For example, the pre-industrial atmospheric concentration of CO2 was around 280ppm (parts per million). In 2005, it was 379ppm. 

Scientists are confident that human activity is responsible for the observed global warming trend and the attendant changes to climate. What’s more, if we continue with “business as usual”, pumping more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the consequences will be disastrous for the planet and its people. Species will find it difficult to adapt to climate changes. Continued sea level rise, floods, prolonged droughts, and other extreme weather events will have impacts on food security, and on human health, safety and livelihoods.   

For more information on the causes and consequences of climate change, see the following sites:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an international body that assesses scientific, technical and socio- economic information on climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. Summary and full reports are available from the website on the Physical Science Basis of Climate Change; Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; and Mitigation of Climate Change.

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has contributed greatly to climate change research, both domestically and internationally. Reports are available from the website on Impacts of Climate Change in Australia; Benefits of Early Action on Climate Change; Critique of Global Warming Swindle; Emission Trading; and The Future of Energy in Australia.

RealClimate, a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists.  The site aims to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary.  The discussion is restricted to scientific topics and will not get involved in any political or economic implications of the science.

The "climate myths" pages on The Climate Institute website, address some of the myths about climate change.

The National Academies' (USA) "Understanding and Responding to Climate Change" brochure, 2008 edition.  The brochure highlights findings and recommendations from the National Academies’ reports on climate change. 

Burning fossil fuels doesn't just impact on the climate. It also releases other pollutants which adversely affect our health, as this Doctors for the Environment paper shows. Emissions from coal fired power plants contain carcinogens and toxins such as arsenic, mecury, selenium, thalium and sulfur dioxide. Coal fired power plant emissions have also been linked to increased rates of respiratory disorders, especially in children.

A Religious Conversation

Fossil fuel extraction and use, land use changes and agricultural activities forms the scientific explanation for climate change. But, from the perspective of religion, the causes go far deeper. We need to understand how we see ourselves in the world – in terms of how humanity relates to the natural world, how we relate to each other, and people of faith would also say how we relate to the divine or God.

Ecology also tells us that human well-being and the natural world are interconnected. This has profound justice implications. People who are least responsible for the activities that produce greenhouse gas pollution suffer disproportionately from its effects. This includes people across the world who live simply, consuming few resources. It also includes people like farmers in Australia who suffer disproportionately from drought. And critically, it includes children and future generations.

But justice concerns are not only about the long term effects of the pollution from these activities.  They are linked to these activities in other ways as well.

Global resource flows are hugely unequal. In an often quoted statistic, 20% of the world’s population consumes about 80% of the world’s resources. How does the production of coffee in Kenya for consumption in Australia affect the livelihood of the peasants who live there? How does the production of oil in the Middle East for consumption in the USA affect Iraqis? As we derive our material resources from further and further afield, the more we are linked with our global neighbours and the more we impact on their welfare.

As people of faith, to acknowledge the spark of the divine in people and the natural world is to respect and care for both. This is why the issue of climate change is a deeply moral one. To experience the spark of the divine in people and the natural world is also to feel interconnection with and love for both. From this perspective we ask ourselves deep questions. From where do we derive fulfillment? What is the meaning in our lives? Does it really come through actions that damage the world and its peoples, and alienate us from them? As people living in an affluent country, how many material possessions, how much material wealth is enough? How can we better connect with others (human and non-human) in our world?

What to Do? 

Addressing climate change (stopping its causes and dealing with the impacts it has already unleashed) requires efforts at multiple levels, from the local right up to the global. We all have a part to play. ARRCC aims to provide a space for people of faith to do just that. Explore our pages to see how you can be involved!