If
Humanity Doesn't Turn Back from Climate Abyss, Says Pope, 'We Will Go Down'
Speaking with
reporters as Hurricane Irma barreled up Florida's Gulf Coast on Sunday, Pope
Francis bolstered his reputation as an outspoken advocate of addressing
man-made global warming when he said aboard the papal plane that "history
will judge" climate change deniers."If someone is doubtful that this is true, they should ask scientists. Then each person can decide and history will judge the decisions." —Pope Francis
"You can see the
effects of climate change, and scientists have clearly said what path we have
to follow," he said, acknowledging scientists' suggestions that people
across the world alter their activity, particularly by reducing their use of
fossil fuels, in response to global warming.
"All of us have a
responsibility, all of us, small or large, a moral responsibility. We have to
take it seriously. We can't joke about it," he continued. "Each
person has their own. Even politicians have their own."
"If someone is
doubtful that this is true, they should ask scientists," the pope added,
responding to questions about climate denialism. "These are not opinions
made on the fly. They are very clear. Then each person can decide and history
will judge the decisions."
The Independent characterized Pope Francis' comments as a "thinly
veiled attack" on U.S. President Donald Trump, whom the pope has
previously criticized for his promises to erect a wall along
the Mexican border and his decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
The pope is known for speaking out in favor of climate action—most famously when he released a 2015 encyclical in which he called on Catholics worldwide to join in the fight against climate change.
"If we don't turn
back," he concluded on Sunday, "we will go down."
In a Guardian op-ed
published Monday, titled "Stop talking
right now about the threat of climate change. It's here; it's happening," 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben also
described North America's natural disasters this past week, exacerbated by man-made global warming, as a sign
that people and politicians must reduce reliance on dirty energy sources to
address climate change.
Pointing to
Houston's recovery
efforts following
Hurricane Harvey, west coast forest fires, a "flash drought" in the
northwest, and Hurricane Irma battering
Florida this weekend
after ravaging several Caribbean islands, McKibben
wrote: "That one long screed of news from one continent in one week (which
could be written about many other continents and many other weeks—just check
out the recent flooding in south Asia for instance) is a precise, pixelated
portrait of a heating world."
"Because we have
burned so much oil and gas and coal, we have put huge clouds of CO2 and methane
in the air; because the structure of those molecules traps heat the planet has
warmed; because the planet has warmed we can get heavier rainfalls, stronger
winds, drier forests and fields," he continued.
Calling upon humankind
to take a stand against the fossil fuel industry to curb global warming,
McKibben likened the ongoing battle against oil and gas companies to
"going on a war-like footing: not shooting at enemies, but focusing in the
way that peoples and nations usually only focus when someone's shooting at
them."
"And something
is," he concluded. "What do you think it means when your forests are
on fire, your streets are underwater, and your buildings are collapsing?"