ubcgcu

Katharine Hayhoe had an important message (mixed in with good humour) last evening at TWU. We have found the problem in global warming and the problem is us, especially high consumers using lots of carbon-based energy since the industrial revolution. 97% of climate scientists believe that there is a significant human factor/human causes to global warming. For her, the science speaks loud and clear. Climate instability is rapidly becoming one of our biggest global problems. She gave several examples from Canada, USA and elsewhere: unusual killer heat waves, flash floods in Toronto and Calgary, the pine beetle menace to our forests, island communities being swallowed by the sea, extremely fast melting of sea ice and glaciers, the immense threat to the livelihood of millions in Bangladesh, etc.She ended with the moral/values/faith Question: What are we going to do about it? Do we really love our neighbour who is suffering the worst impact of climate change? Do we care about the future of our children? She left us with a sense of urgency–the need to act now, especially in the next few years. We all need to take responsibility for our part in the problem and all need to work towards solutions. The same message came through Jeremy Rifkin in a Google talk  www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-iDUcETjvo He notes that climate change, water and food shortage could highjack the whole future of the planet. This is a serious concern for future leaders and educators the 10,000 graduate students at UBC. Also graduate students around the globe.

See also Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism versus the Climate.

Climate scientist and evangelical Christian Dr. Katherine Hayhoe presented this year’s Distinguished Lecture Series at Trinity Western University. The combination of respected speaker and controversial topic generated so much interest in the wider Christian community that the evening lecture on Oct 8 required two overflow rooms. Hayhoe, a Canadian, is associate professor at Texas Tech and director of its Climate Science Center. Combining her roles as scientist and committed Christian who is also the wife of a pastor, she sought to unwind the tangled relationship between politics, science and faith. After presenting evidence for the human role in global warming and the resulting influence on weather patterns and sea levels, she delved into the disruption of populations and agriculture faced by low-lying countries, along with the spread of disease in a warmer world. The greatest impact will be had precisely on the countries with the least economic resources, and as people of faith we are called to respond to this increased poverty and suffering. At the same time, investing now in alternative forms of energy will ultimately serve our own best economic interests as well. Hayhoe traced the increasingly strong relationship between conservative politics and conservative religion. The growing distrust of science among American evangelicals is a reaction to the acceptance of evolution by scientists and the common belief that science and faith are incompatible. This distrust, encouraged by political and economic forces that resist change, has led to denial among many evangelicals of the evidence for climate change. Faith provides evidence of things not seen, Hayhoe claims, whereas science provides evidence of the observable. In her view these are two sides of the same coin and must together lead us to seek appropriate compassionate solutions for the future.

Climate change is one of the most hotly debated scientific issues of today. But, is the evidence solid? Are proposed solutions viable? And why would anyone care? Join Katharine Hayhoe as she untangles the complex science behind global warming and highlights the key role our faith and values play in shaping our attitudes and actions on this crucial topic.