Silent Sea - Rachel Boast
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea
- ST Coleridge
Another vessel sheds the chrome
of its silver mile until a mile
meanders into three, triples again
over the reef. Nothing can breathe
under oil, nor register that
dark membrane’s slick
over sight. We were the first
cracking the hull of the earth
open, our foolish husbandry
a metallurgy that’s brimmed
with false gold too often
we can talk, and talk, and talk
but a ship in space, manned
by non-thinking from non-feeling,
says absolutely nothing at all
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
RL I first heard of 'climate change' at the end of the 1980's, when the then Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland, was writing and speaking of portents in the world's climate patterns and raising questions about sustainable development. Actually, she was by no means the first to consider that the world's climate was warming unnaturally. The following words were spoken in the nineteenth century, for example: they seem amazingly prescient in speaking of the 'greenhouse effect'.
"Man (sic) cannot at his pleasure command the rain and the sunshine, the wind and frost and snow, yet it is certain that climate itself has in many instances been gradually changed and ameliorated or deteriorated by human action. The draining of swamps and the clearing of forests perceptibly effect the evaporation from the earth, and of course the mean quantity of moisture suspended in the air. The same causes modify the electrical condition of the atmosphere and the power of the surface to reflect, absorb and radiate the rays of the sun, and consequently influence the distribution of light and heat, and the force and direction of the winds. Within narrow limits too, domestic fires and artificial structures create and diffuse increased warmth, to an extent that may effect vegetation. The mean temperature of London is a degree or two higher than that of the surrounding country, and Pallas believed, that the climate of even so thinly a peopled country as Russia was sensibly modified by similar causes." (George Perkins March, USA, 1847)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/jun/20/george-perkins-marsh-climate-speech
In my case, it was the early 1990's before I became involved with the issue at a church level. I was fortunate to be able to go to the World Council of Churches summit meeting alongside the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June, 1992 (The Earth Summit), where there were intense theological reflections, biblical study and liturgical actions based on dire new findings about the earth's atmosphere and climate in the light of economic developments around the world.
Not having had a scientific background, I did my best to read the reports that were being written, especially the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992).
I thought the 'precautionary prinicple' in the UN Framework Convention was wise, and I still do. It says, basically, that if we wait until the scientific evidence for anthropogenic accelerated climate change is rock solid, the earth will have reached and passed a tipping point and climate change will be beyond our power to control, with catastrophic, tragic consequences.
A crucial time for me was meeting in person Sir John Houghton, the Welsh scientist, at a WCC conference in Switzerland in 1994. He was a co-chair of the Nobel Prize winning IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). He had been a professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Oxford. His combination of Christian faith and scientific expertise and integrity influenced me a lot.
PS I was sad to read of the death of Sir John Houghton on Wednesday, 15 April 2020. Delighted, though, to be referred to a video presentation on the Church engaging with climate change by his granddaughter, Hannah Malcolm.
I also attended WCC meetings on Climate Change in the Netherlands 1994 & 1996, as well as in Switzerland 1993 & 1996. I was fortunate to attend a Pacific Council of Churches meeting on Climate Change in the Marshall Islands in 1994.
http://www.cis.org.uk/ireland/global-warming-2008/J-Houghton-16-Feb-2008.pdf
So Donald Trump has pulled USA out of the Paris Accord. This is not surprising, though it is sad.
Rod Oram, Fixing farming our climate challenge - Newsroom, April, 2018
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/04/14/104969/fixing-farming-our-climate-change-job
I'm glad to make a contribution to the local discussion for the NZ Methodist Church / Te Hahi Weteriana policy on climate justice. The draft policy has references to Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical letter on 'care for our common home' - Laudato Si, and to a number of biblical, ecumenical, Aotearoa New Zealand and Pacific sources.
A public presentation and discussion on climate change, St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, 21 May, 2016
With Kevin Tate, New Zealand scientist, 1943-2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Tate
Meeting at St John's Methodist Church, Hamilton, 11 May 2018
https://www.mfe.govt.nz/climate-change
I met Professor Gary Wilson (The University of Otago) last night (30 August 2018) at the home of friends. He's a person of faith (PCANZ), a top scientist, working on scientific issues related to climate change. He's still hopeful about the possibilities for humankind, believing that with the right knowledge, we can reduce the carbon footprint and avert the worst consequences of accelerated climate change.
David Attenorough, Climate Change: The Facts
New Zealand Government on climate change as at April, 2020
https://www.mfe.govt.nz/climate-change
Hamilton City Council flyer, 2018