By Dr. John R. Christy, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He was awarded NASA's Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement for satellite research, has testified before the U.S. Congress numerous times, and served as a Lead Author of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He also holds a Master of Divinity from Golden Gate Baptist Seminary and served in Kenya.
The issuance of Pope Francis' encyclical (Laudato Si', "Be praised") addressing climate change last week was intriguing to me -- a climate scientist involved in the contentious issue of global warming, yet one who holds a seminary degree with former service as a missionary in Africa. Science and faith cross paths often in my world.
Frankly, I'm puzzled by this encyclical. The language it uses to describe our current world is frightening, "The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits." According to the document, we are "witnessing a disturbing warming ... an increase in extreme weather events."
Dr. John Christy (AL.com/File Photo)
Are we doomed to an apocalyptic disaster befitting the biblical calamities described in the Revelation of John? The encyclical seems to think so.
And the reason? People want to live longer and better lives.
And there's the dilemma.
On the one hand, the encyclical calls for renewed attention to the "wisdom" that all human life is sacred, having "infinite dignity." Each of us is "a thought of God ... willed, ... loved, ... necessary." Non-catholic Christians around the world can say "Amen" to that.
On the other hand, we are asked to forgo the fundamental means by which human life flourishes today – carbon-based energy (coal, oil, natural gas). Why? ... because the by-product of this energy, carbon dioxide, must be "drastically reduced" to thwart a theorized "... extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented destruction of ecosystems."
But what has this "exploitation of the planet" wrought? Simply put - human life, in both length and quality. Carbon is the most affordable and reliable source of energy in demand today, renewables like solar and wind are neither by comparison. This is why over 85 percent of energy comes to us from carbon and why its use is growing around the world. This will not stop anytime soon.
Scientifically, I will admit that the complexity of the climate system baffles me. But I'm not alone. The hundreds of millions of dollars spent to understand the climate system though computer modeling (on which the catastrophic claims are based) have yet to generate results that give us confidence that dangerous warming will occur.
I am one of those climatologists who builds datasets so we can measure what the climate system is doing and why. In my reading of the results, I don't see disasters ahead – the world's atmosphere has warmed little since satellites began estimating global temperatures and extreme events like droughts and hurricanes aren't increasing.
To be sure, others see it differently. However, I tend to focus on the fundamental metrics that, according to theory, should be measurable if the extra carbon dioxide we are emitting into the atmosphere is actually causing huge changes. The real world simply doesn't align with the theory. Whether you are a Baptist (like me), a Buddhist or a Baha'i, the numbers come out the same ... and "science" is all about the numbers.
The moral question is differently addressed. In science we measure things, but we cannot take a human life to the laboratory and measure its real value. Here is where the Pope, my Catholic friends, and I stand together by understanding that our faith is the source of our belief (yes, belief) that human life is of infinite value.
Therefore, we are not morally bad people for taking carbon and turning it into the energy that offers life to humanity in a world that would otherwise be brutal (think of life before modernity). On the contrary, we are good people for doing so. As the Indian Environmental Minister P. Javadekar stated in 2014, "The moral principle ... cannot be washed away. India's first task is eradication of poverty ... our first priority", so that "... our CO2 emissions will rise."
When I look at the scientific results I and others generate, and then hold fast to what my faith earnestly speaks, I view sensible carbon-use as today's liberator of precious humanity from the dangerous vagaries of nature. Carbon becomes, therefore, a positive moral imperative to consider.