“To what extent is the present state of the natural world the result of human actions
or is it merely the out-working of natural processes?”
This essay will consider whether global climate change is the result of human actions, or merely the out-working of natural processes. It will begin with a brief overview of the contemporary opportunities that exist to further an understanding of the extravagant biological nature of creation, and will conclude with the assertion that current considerations of the relationship between a fragile, yet richly diverse natural world with a demanding, expanding human population are presenting Christians with new opportunities for exploring and advocating the existence of a Creator God to a wider audience.
“The diversity of life on Earth, the only planet known to support life, is astonishing…. No one really knows how many species there are today – estimates range widely from 4 million to 100 million..”[1]
The mysterious patterns and workings of the natural world have traditionally been held in great respect, if not fear, as being beyond human comprehension, to the point of being attributed with having supernatural characteristics. At the same time, the natural order was generally considered by Western thinkers following the tradition of Aristotle, to be a static, created entity.[2]
The advances of the natural sciences during the Age of Enlightenment, significantly increased human understanding of the mechanical and material nature of the natural world, and the recent extensive recognition of the bi-centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin has helped to bring rational and scientific explanations of nature into the wider public domain.
Now, in the twenty-first century, it is almost impossible to remain unmoved at an emotional, as well as an intellectual level, by the countless images of almost every aspect of the natural world that meticulous scientific research combined with modern high quality audio-visual communication technologies consistently bring into the wider public awareness.
The lay person in Britain now has every opportunity to increase his or her understanding of the staggering variety of life on this planet as images of the awe, splendour, intricacy and sheer mystery of the natural world, from the unknown expanses of the universe to the most microscopic detail of embryology, are beamed into our living rooms via the media of television.[3]
Yet, at the same time, there has been since the early twentieth century[4], an increasing ambivalence, particularly in much of the so-called developed world, when it comes to acknowledging a human responsibility towards this wonderful Creation, about which we are constantly seeking to know more.
“According to a recent survey, the majority of adults still see environmental protection as important. But they have become cynical, believing the myth that those who care for the planet are hippies, loonies or anoraks and that environmentalism is extreme rather than mainstream.
They are also too busy to worry about rubbish and, besides, the rainforests are a million miles from here, aren't they? [5]”
This lack of urgency in looking after the biodiversity of the planet has been fuelled in recent months by an increasingly vociferous scepticism, often generated by those with vested interests in the economics of fossil fuel extraction and usage, towards the whole subject of climate change. The recent United Nations conference on Climate Change in
“Taken to the extreme you could sum up the classic sceptical rule like this:
The atmosphere isn’t warming and if it is, then it is due to natural variation; and even if it’s not due to natural variation, then the amount of warming is insignificant; and if it becomes insignificant, then the benefits will outweigh the problems; and even if they don’t, technology will come to the rescue; and even if it doesn’t, we shouldn’t wreck the economy to fix the problem when many parts of the science are uncertain”[7]
Contemporary arguments over the credibility of some of the scientific data used to assess the advances of global warming, as well as the way such scientific data is shared, has in recent months further increased a general scepticism[8], not least within the non-scientific popularist media and their audiences. However, a recent scientific survey concludes:
“The evidence that human activity is causing global warming is much stronger than previously stated and is found in all parts of the world, (with) a less than 5 per cent likelihood that natural variations in climate were responsible for the changes.”[9]
The counter argument, most frequently lodged, is that Climate changes are the outworkings of natural processes, inherent in a non-static universe. There appears to be little in the way of coherent supporting arguments for this stance, in contrast to the wealth of interdisciplinary scientific and anecdotal evidence that has led to the conclusion that:
“The climate is changing, and there is now very high confidence by an overwhelming majority of scientists that human activity is a significant part of that change. The global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased markedly since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values. Much of this is due to fossil fuel use, changes in land use, and agriculture”[10]
Increased empirical evidence of the variety and beauty of the natural world, combined with a similarly increasing acknowledgement of the influences, that humanity has over the well-being of this natural word, affords those who hold to a faith in God as Creator and Sustainer of all things considerable scope to link both issues with renewed confidence.
“We lie in an amazing age of discovery”[11], and, when scientists enthuse about the discoveries they are making about the universe, they are almost always unanimous in their agreement that the more that is discovered, the more there is to discover. The way is therefore open, for Christian believers to redress some of the illogical, un-scientific statements of belief from the past over the natural order, and to claim with vigour that “The earth is (indeed) the Lord’s and everything in it”[12] The temptation to revert to a “God of the Gaps”[13] defence against the advances of science and reason has long been abandoned, and yet there is often an embarrassing hesitancy amongst Christian thinkers in allowing God to be mentioned in contemporary debates over the state of the natural world.
The wonders of nature and the awareness of climate change are together opening up fresh opportunities for exploring the way that humanity relates to the natural world, and at the same time giving fresh perspectives on the fragility of humanity and the environment it occupies. A humanity that is aware of the beauty and fragility of the circumstances in which it exists, is likely to be more predisposed to accept greater responsibility for the well-being of all of creation. Christians believe that “all creatures receive their life from the hand of God, and that there is an interdependence between humanity and the rest of created order. We humans need proper engagement with the natural order for our mutual well-being”[14]
With this in mind, it is right that Christians should engage publicly and positively with those who seek to increase awareness of responsibility towards the well-being of the natural order[15]. A commitment towards human responsibilities alongside an observance of human rights is an essential part of the relationships between humanity and the natural order, and will naturally pave the way to considerations of issues of justice, ethics, sustainability and ultimately any future hope. It is at this stage that the opportunity arises for people of faith, and particularly Christians, to open up discussion and consideration as to whether these are responsibilities merely towards humanity itself, or towards the natural order, or ultimately toward a Creator and Sustainer who is both part of, and at the same time, beyond the material world as it is currently understood.
“The New Testament, true to its Old Testament roots, regularly insists that the major, central, framing question is that of God’s purpose of rescue and re-creation for the whole world, the entire cosmos”[16]
The re-introduction of the notion of the Divine as fully involved with the out-working of cosmic purposes which affect the whole of existence provides abundant motivation and reason for all to acknowledge the beauty of the natural order, to strive to understand more of it through technology, research and scientific engagement, and, at the same time, work with the gifts and resources inherent with a humanity that is created in the image of its Creator, to protect, provide and sustain the natural order in which it finds itself. Self-destruction, or the destruction of the natural order, for selfish gain can have no role in such a world view. Rather, the question that has to be asked is:
“How will we humans contribute to that renewal of creation, and to the fresh projects which the creator God will lunch in His new world?”[17]
( 1466 words)
Books
§ Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis: Al Gore, Bloomsbury 2009
§ Cherishing the Earth: How to care for God’s creation; Hodson M&M, Monarch 2008
§ Life: Extraordinary Animals, Extreme Behaviour: Martha Holmes & Michael Gunton BBC Books 2009
§ The Encyclopedia of Earth: A Complete Visual Guide; M. Allaby et.al. Weldon Owen, 2008
§ The Rough Guide to Climate Change; Henson R., Penguin 2008
§ Surprised by Hope Tom Wright SPCK 2007
Articles:
· The idea of anthropogenic global climate change in the 20th century: Spencer R. Weart; Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: 2010 Climate Change, Volume 1, Issue 1 (p 67-81)
· Modern Physics and Ancient Faith: Journal article by James F. Salmon; Theological Studies, Vol. 66, 2005
[1] Life, BBC publications p. 3
[2] “Aristotle’s universe is finite, eternal, and geocentric: a stationary earth surrounded by concentric spheres that carry the sun, moon, planets, and stars in their circular orbits about the earth. Everything below the sphere of the moon is made of four fundamental elements - earth, water, air, and fire - that interact and are capable of transforming into one another. Each element is characterized by a pair of properties from among the contraries hot, cold, wet, and dry. Earth is cold and dry, water cold and wet, air hot and wet, fire hot and dry. The heavenly bodies are made of a different kind of matter altogether, a fifth element (“quintessence”). Each element has a natural place and a natural movement. The four sublunary elements tend to move in a straight line, earth downward toward the center of the universe, fire toward the extreme, and air and water toward intermediate places. Once in its natural place, each of these four remains at rest unless something else causes it to move. The natural movement of the fifth element in the heavens is circular and eternal. All of this movement and change is ultimately explained in terms of an “unmoved mover” - a cause of change that is itself uncaused and outside of the universe (De Caelo I-III, On Generation and Corruption II.4, Physics VIII.6, Metaphysics XII.6-9).” (http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm)
[3] E.g. How Earth Shaped Us (Prof. Ian Stewart); Solar System, (Prof. Brian Cox); The Secret life of Chaos, & Chemistry – a Volatile History (Prof. Jim Al-Khalili) BBC tv documentaries 2010
[4] "We're not responsible, he thought. This planet is a temporary affair. It's whizzing with all kinds of other ones, a whole range of planetary stuff, toward a star in the Milky Way. On that kind of a planet we're not responsible, he thought." (Bertolt Brecht)
[5] Protecting the Planet is Child’s Play John Cattermole The TES 19 December, 2003 http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=388377
[6] UN Climate Change Conference 2009 - cop15.dk December 2009
[7] Rough Guide to Climate Change P 257
[8] “The core of greenhouse science – such as the consensus estimates on how much global temperature rise to expect from a doubling of CO2 – has held firm for decades. But climate change is such a multifaceted and complicated enterprise that it’s easy enough to find minor weaknesses in one study or another. Furthermore there are always exceptions that prove the rule, such as an expanding glacier or a region that’s cooled in recent decades” Rough Guide p257
[9] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/123261286/PDFSTART?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 as reported in The Times Newspaper 4th March 2010
[10] Climate and Covenant. Rt. Revd David Atkinson, http://www.norwich.anglican.org/environment/Climate_and_Covenant.pdf
[11]Prof Brian Cox, 7-3-2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rf172/Wonders_of_the_Solar_System_Empire_of_the_Sun/
[12] Psalm 24:1
[13] The term (God of the Gaps) goes back to Henry Drummond, a 19th century evangelist lecturer, from his Lowell Lectures on the Ascent of Man. He chastises those Christians who point to the things that science can not yet explain — "gaps which they will fill up with God" — and urges them to embrace all nature as God's, as the work of "... an immanent God, which is the God of Evolution, is infinitely grander than the occasional wonder-worker, who is the God of an old theology." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps
[14] Atkinson ibid p.6
[15] E.g. The Worlds Citizens Assembly, Lille 2001 which advocates a Human Responsibiity Charter to be observed in parallel with the United Nations Charter on Human Rights http://www.alliance21.org/lille/en/resultats/charte.html
[16] Surprised by Hope p. 197
[17] Ibid p.197
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