Our Living World
The Our Living World series focuses on ways United Methodists seek to re-link themselves with the living world that sustains them. (Images by Laurens Glass, Paul Gomez and Mike DuBose, United Methodist Communications.)
A United Methodist Insight Column
Imagine every church bell you've ever heard ringing out all at once. Now transfer that image to what's happening with extreme weather fueled by climate change.
"It’s as if every alarm bell on Earth is ringing out, scientists say, and the only question is when the ringing will be loud enough to wake people up," writes Maxine Joselow of a report by the Washington Post's Sarah Kaplan on the global weather extremes happening this summer.
Joselow's "Climate 202" newsletter continues: "The warnings are echoing through the Southwest, with a potentially record-breaking heat wave headed toward Phoenix. They’re burbling up from the ocean waters surrounding the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where temperatures are the warmest in more than 170 years. And they’re smoldering in the Canadian wildfires, which have sent dangerous plumes of smoke wafting into the United States.
"'This is not the new normal,' said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Imperial College London. 'We don’t know what the new normal is. The new normal will be what it is once we do stop burning fossil fuels … and we’re nowhere near doing that.'"
Reuters news agency reported July 18: "The heatwave engulfing the northern hemisphere is set to intensify, leading to an increased risk of heart attacks and deaths, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Temperatures in North America, Asia, and across North Africa and the Mediterranean will be above 40°C for a prolonged number of days this week, the WMO said."
Added to climate woes in Florida, Farmers Insurance is the latest to end new coverage, but this time they're being honest about the reason, citing the increasing costs of paying for damages from natural disasters, The Post’s Justine McDaniel reports. Farmers has stopped issuing new auto, home and umbrella policies in Florida and says it won't renew existing coverages for policyholders when current policies expire. The Post says Farmers may be the first insurance company to acknowledge that the cost of climate-crisis disasters is behind its pullout.
Insurers also have pulled out of California and Louisiana, while premiums have ballooned in both cost and complexity in Texas and Oklahoma. All these insurance troubles will affect churches and members in getting coverage and in the increased cost of coverage, which can be expected to reduce church revenues and expenses.
Kudos to West Ohio Conference, Ask the UMC
United Women in Faith's Office of Economic and Environmental Justice sent kudos to the West Ohio Conference this week for adopting its own "net-zero emissions" policy. Says the conference website:
"During its annual meeting in Dayton, the West Ohio Conference adopted a Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions (N-ZGGE) resolution with a target date of 2050. This action recognizes the need to address the degradation of our environment caused by global warming. To prevent the worst impacts of climate change and preserve a livable planet, emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. The resolution comes two years after 12 Boards and Commissions of the UMC pledged 'to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 across ministries, facilities, operations, and investments.' More resources about climate change are available on the conference’s new Climate Justice webpage at www.westohioumc.org/climate-justice."
Meanwhile, Ask the UMC has produced a stellar series on United Methodist beliefs about living in harmony with God's creation. Check it out here.
More voices on the climate crisis
The current El Niño weather pattern also is intensifying the climate crisis as a "threat multiplier," a term used by military and public health officials. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has an article about this added threat that it explains in its daily newsletter:
El Niño increases global health threats that require a One Health response. The changing atmospheric conditions brought on by El Niño will increase the risks for droughts, fires, floods, and storms that can lead to the increased incidence of vector-borne diseases, food insecurity, and heat stress, writes physician and policy researcher Laura H. Kahn. Read more."
From our colleague the Rev. Richenda Fairhurst:
Unlivable Planet. This report looks at the cost of burning fossil fuels in human lives as temperatures humans cannot survive burst through the ‘climate niche’ and force climate migration. An article about the report from ProPublica: Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment Read the report.
From climate scientist Dr. Katherine Hayhoe:
"Polycrisis. Add this one to ‘megadrought’ and ‘bombcyclone’ and ‘pyrocumulonimbus tornado.’ We are experiencing ‘climate polycrisis’ defined by the UN this way: 'The impacts of climate change are causing existing hazard events to become more intense and occur with greater frequency. These impacts combine with other risks and threats such as conflict, epidemics or inflation, creating compound crises, a phenomenon increasingly referred to as a polycrisis.' My question of course is, where do we go from here? And when will it be enough to stop burning fossil fuels?"
New climate curriculum available
Looking for more understanding and action after this summer's effects of the climate crisis? The Rev. Dr. Robert Dygert-Gearheart and his spouse, educator Anita Dygert-Gearheart, have written a climate crisis curriculum specifically for the United Methodist Church at www.wakeupworld.earth, according to Anita's Facebook posts. It's also available from Cokesbury Publishing.
Anita writes further on the National UMC Creation Justice page: "Also coming this fall is a series for the local church called A Minute for Mother Earth. It will be series of 4 short videos released and sent each month to churches who sign up. Each video can be used independently, or it can become a one-minute part of your worship service each Sunday. By the end of the year your congregation will have a basic understanding of the problem at hand and how they might be part of the solution. To sign up send an email to adygertgearheart@hotmail.com"
Contact the authors at adygertgearheart@hotmail.com for more information.
Guns are still around
This headline from the Associated Press website tells it all: Six months. 28 mass killings in the US. That's the worst yet, and all but one case involved guns
"Unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. this year has set a new record for the deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006. From Jan. 1 to June 30, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. Read More."
There's no need to say more. Read it for yourself.
Media Mentions
United Methodists forming new congregation – Davie County Enterprise Record
Separation was painful for UMC, but our Christian identity is now stronger – The Dallas Morning News
Ware's Chapel: a “lighthouse congregation” sees bright future on the horizon |– Washington Daily News
Local children's ministry raises money to buy protective vests for Temple Police K9 officers KCEN-TV
Avondale Samaritan Place celebrating a decade of being a beacon of hope - WVTM
'Faith and action': Area couple leads 33 trips to help those in need - Observer Today
Asbury United Methodist hosts annual block party, receives county proclamation – Yahoo News
Dividing the house of God: Ordained Iowa Methodist recounts why the church made them leave – Iowa Public Radio
Kids can learn the ropes of musical theatre through Music Makers at A&M United Methodist Church – KBTX
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Veteran award-winning religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle has reported on The United Methodist Church at all levels for 35 years. She serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011 as a media channel for marginalized and under-served United Methodist news and views. "Crisis Watch" is part of Insight's participation in Covering Climate now, a global collaboration of more than 500 international news outlets committed to enhanced reporting on the climate crisis.