Greetings, WesleyNexus Colleagues:
How do we assess the future of our planet and of humanity? Increasingly, due to extreme drought, persistent instances of catastrophic weather events, recurring wildfires in northern areas where none have been known previously, slow but unrelenting sea level rise and warming oceans, the reality of climate change (to be precise – global warming) is undeniable. Some place their hope in the development of new technologies. But is that hope a pipe dream? Technological wizardry has been pitched against prophecies of environmental degradation since at least the mid-twentieth century The scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for example, have been telling us that large scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal is “unavoidable” if we are to reverse present trends. They also tell us that we must live less energy-intensive lifestyles to substantially reverse emissions. Realism, however, will require both strategies and immediate implementation. But there is no hard evidence that we – those of is the U.S. and in the developed nations elsewhere – are ready and willing to do either.
At the end of June, 125 persons from around the world who have a strong commitment to addressing climate change strategies, met for eight days on Star Island out in the Atlantic for the 68th annual Conference of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS). We had with us technological experts, an IPCC representative, academic researchers from major institutions, and leaders from various agencies involved with the issue. We heard reports from the most recent consultations. We were inundated with the latest data. We received presentations from technological magicians. We learned that regulation of new technology will require new modes of policy development in areas that must reflect the collaboration of government, industry, education and religion. But we also heard legitimate fears that we may not be able to act in time to reverse the trends that determine future impacts. In fact, we have reached the point where we must negotiate a “collective rite of passage from childhood to adulthood” to save our planet’s fragile ecosystem. Imagery, vision, ritual, new paradigms – how can these innovative responses serve as sources of hope and assist us? How can justice best be achieved without creative and collaborative policies to mitigate and reverse climate trends?
We learned there are no simple answers. It will require an immediate commitment from all of us to modify our lifestyles and install lawmakers in positions of authority reflecting a multiplicity of worldviews, including religious perspectives, for governments around the world to determine and apply sane climate management policies. An additional report can be found below.
Maynard Moore, IRAS Vice President.
Contents:
The Wisdom and Resourcefulness of the Whole
The 68th Annual Conference of IRAS on Star Island
Why a sudden surge of broken heat records is scaring scientists
IPCC: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability
To fight climate despair, this Christian ecologist says science isn’t enough
Climate crisis: 4 reasons for hope in 2023
Religious groups’ views on climate change
Examining the Religious and Spiritual Implications of Climate Change (Harvard University)
Thanks continue to go out to our generous contributors. We encourage you to share comments, articles and insights that will help us all weather these difficult times.
Blessings,
Maynard Moore and the rest of the WesleyNexus team
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The Wisdom and Resourcefulness of the Whole with Tom Atlee
July 11, 2023, at 4 PM Central time, 5 PM Eastern time
Presentation Overview:
One source of holistic guidance and leadership involves attending to the wisdom and resourcefulness of the whole – whether that whole is a child… a group or community… a whole situation… an ecosystem… nature… God… or the nondual Beingness of the universe. There’s something important there, often hidden. It can apply to everyday life, philosophy, and even democratic governance, as we shall see….
About the July 11th presenter:
Tom Atlee is a former peace activist (and Vietnam era draft resister) and founder (in 1996) of the nonprofit Co-Intelligence Institute. CII explores what intelligence looks like when it takes wholeness, interconnectedness and co-creativity seriously. Given his activist orientation, Tom feels the philosophical co-intelligence worldview (which was born on the LA-DC Great Peace March in 1986) has its most important application in what he calls “wise democracy” where “wisdom” involves attending to what serves longterm broad benefit. He has written four books — including The Tao of Democracy and Reflections on Evolutional Activism: Essays, Poems and Prayers from an Emerging Field of Sacred Social Change) — as well as hundreds of articles (including dozens in alternative journals) and blog posts and an encyclopedic “wise democracy pattern language”. He lives a simple life in a Eugene Oregon co-op, is concerned about existential risks, and gifts almost all his work, supported by CII.
To register:
https://starisland-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OqHfLWHOTKOgZpz_lcO0AA#/registration
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The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS)IRAS is an international society of learners and thinkers, natural and social scientists, philosophers, theologians and people from many other backgrounds and professions. IRAS cultivates a community of informed and respectful inquiry and dialogue at the intersections of science with religion, spirituality and philosophy in service of global, societal and personal well-being.IRAS Webinar SeriesFor 65 years, The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) has held summer Conferences on Star Island, off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Due to the pandemic, we had to postpone our 2020 Star Island conference until the summer of 2021. In order to continue to engage with IRAS themes and the IRAS community, with Star Island’s generous support, we launched a live webinar series: Science, Religion, & Society.
https://www.iras.org/webinar-series.html
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The 68th Annual Conference of IRAS on Star Island, June 25-July 2, 2023 by Maynard Moore
The focus of this Conference was on Climate Change: How Can Technology Serve Hope and Justice?
The Conference keynote address was provided by Professor Willem Drees, first secretary of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) founded in 1752. He has served as President of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT) and as editor of Zygon. His paper was titled The Ambitions of Wizards and the Warnings of Prophets, and his conclusion was that yes, we need smart technological options, but without an appropriate pluralistic politics that takes future generations into account, we must face a profound lament for the conditions which our children and grandchildren will face.
Dr. Arthur Petersen, professor of Science, Technology and Public Policy at the University College of London and a delegate to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2000, provided an overview of the IPCC mandate to comprehensively assess worldwide efforts and research on solutions and strategies to combat climate change for a global audience. Drawing on his previous training and research in the disciplines of physics, atmospheric sciences, international relations, theology and philosophy of culture, his presentation was grounded in the recognition of uncertainty at the heart of all our present strategies: there is no firm assessment that current trends can be reversed.
Dr. Constance Bertka, who has both a doctorate in Geology from Arizona State University and a Master of Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary, and drawing on long-term research in the planetary sciences, presented findings from recent surveys nationwide that show a growing sense of urgency for the application of climate intervention technologies. Among current conclusions, we recognize that there is lagging public awareness of possible solutions, that the role of ideology remains strong in people’s thinking, with little recognition that climate change presents for us a moral hazard.
Two representatives from the American Geophysical Union were present and addressed the Conference. Dr. Lisa Braumlich, AGU President and professor in the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, showed how climate change as an issue is embedded in larger issues of power, resources, justice and equity, and discussed how the scientific community is now helping to develop a comprehensive approach to fashion future solutions. Dr. Billy Williams, the AGU Executive Vice President for Ethics, Diversity and Inclusion, and former member of the National Academy of Sciences, shared the current strategies at AGU on climate intervention and engagement. These include eight ethical principles for all future AGU research with a focus on environmental justice.
Dr. Leonard Smith, now a professor of engineering at Virginia Tach and formerly professor of statistics at the London School of Economics, showed the conferees how weather simulation models used in analyzing trends on climate change present a conundrum for predictability: whether applied to warming ocean temperatures or disappearing ice sheets, most of our models have become too complicated to be useful. There is inevitably a big surprise lurking in long term simulations.
Professor Wake Smith, professor at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, presented an IRAS webinar with the Conference as a live audience, entitled “Overshoot: The World Beyond 1.5 c.” He began with reference to the Paris Accords with the pledge of world leaders to hold global warning below 2 degrees Centigrade, but showed us data to the effect that we cannot reach Net Zero and by continuing present trends, we will reach 2.5 degrees C by late in this century. There is virtually no perception among the general public of the dangers this represents.
Professor Kenneth Oye, Director of the Program on Emerging Technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, showed that each succeeding wave of technological fixes poses a major challenge for governments seeking to develop bilateral and multicultural solutions to mitigate or reverse current climate trends, from social inequities to widespread pandemics.
Finally, professor Eric Ords, teaching at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, helped the Conferees to imagine some global climate solutions. Whereas some label these ideas as science fiction, these strategies hold the seeds of effective change over the next few decades. And Dr. Frances Flannery, professor of religion at James Madison University, offered some strategies that might foster justice and equity for climate mitigation within a sustainable peace framework for the globe. She shared with the Conferees a One Billion for Peace Pledge. This is available for individuals and congregations to sign and utilize as a framework of everyday life::
www.bioearthpeacepledge.com/peace-pledge
Reported by Maynard Moore, IRAS Vice President.
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Why a sudden surge of broken heat records is scaring scientists by Scott Dance (Washington Post)
Scientists say to brace for more extreme weather and probably a record-warm 2023 amid unprecedented temperatures
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/07/06/earth-record-heat-climate-extremes/
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IPCC: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDRxfuEvqGg
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To fight climate despair, this Christian ecologist says science isn’t enough by Sarah Pulliam Bailey (Washington Post)
When he was a little boy roaming the forests and marshes of Illinois, Rick Lindroth adored catching frogs and climbing trees. His dream came true when he became a full-time scientist, paid to make observations in nature. Even when he’s not officially on the job, with binoculars dangling from his neck, he will effortlessly spot a bald eagle’s nest from his fly-fishing stream in Big Spring valley.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison ecologist also belongs to an evangelical church and has struggled with deep despair over climate change. He has had a front-row seat observing the effects of a warming atmosphere through the aspen trees he has studied for decades. But he lacks the support of many within the evangelical community.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/04/16/climate-despair-christian-scientist-finding-hope/
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Climate crisis: 4 reasons for hope in 2023 (umich.edu) by Dean Jonathan T. Overpeck
As we enter another year of a climate crisis, there is reason for both worry and hope. Looking back, 2022 leaves no doubt that the climate crisis is accelerating: We experienced worsening cases of extreme summer heat, winter cold, droughts, wildfires, intense rainfall, floods, hurricanes and coastal destruction underpinned by sea-level rise. Human-caused climate change is creating major humanitarian, water and biodiversity crises.
But despite these harbingers of doom, I remain hopeful: The past year highlighted reasons for optimism that we will tackle the climate crisis before it’s too late. Here are four big reasons for hope in the coming year.
https://seas.umich.edu/news/climate-crisis-4-reasons-hope-2023
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Religious groups’ views on climate change | Pew Research Center
There is a consistent pattern by religious group on these and other questions about climate change. In general, evangelical Protestants tend to be the most likely of all major U.S. religious groups to express skeptical views. For instance, about a third of evangelical Protestants say the Earth is getting warmer mostly due to human activity (32%), while similar shares say the Earth is getting warmer mostly due to natural patterns (36%) or that they are unsure or not convinced the Earth is getting warmer (32%). Meanwhile, members of non-Christian religions and people who do not identify with any religion – particularly self-described atheists and agnostics – consistently express the highest levels of concern about climate change. Other Christian subgroups, such as Catholics, generally fall somewhere in between.
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Examining the Religious and Spiritual Implications of Climate Change (Harvard University) (Video)
What kind of religious and spiritual questions are raised by climate collapse? How might understanding the religious dimensions of climate collapse and responses to it inform scientific, business, policy, activist, and other professional communities seeking to develop sustainable and just climate solutions?
Religion and spirituality play a crucial role in shaping drivers of climate change and responses to it worldwide. In this online conversation, Harvard Divinity School faculty members Matthew Ichihasi Potts, Janet Gyatso, and Diane L. Moore examine the religious and spiritual implications of climate change. George Sarrinikolaou, executive director of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University, offered remarks as a respondent.
This event was part of Harvard Climate Action Week, a celebration and acceleration of climate research, education, and engagement across Harvard University. Led by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and hosted by schools and centers across Harvard University, the week convened thousands of experts, decision-makers, students, alumni, and scholars.
This event took place May 11, 2023.