Climate Footprints
July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month ever. New Climate Central analysis finds that human-caused climate change made July’s extreme heat in the U.S. and across the globe far more likely. (Climate Central Graphic)
Click here to see the above graphic in motion. See item below.
A United Methodist Insight Column
If you are having a hard time coping with the emotional burden of this summer's extreme heat as I am, here's a suggestion from The Washington Post's Climate Coach Michael J. Coren: Consider embarking on "Swedish death cleaning."
The practice involves going through all one's stuff and getting rid of most of it before leaving it to family and friends to clean out after one's death. Says Coren: "Letting go of some of your stuff, or not buying it in the first place, can bring immediate benefits."
Coren continues: "Clutter is linked to stress and anxiety, even depression. It’s also hard on our world. Each product we buy, on average, accounts for roughly 6.3 times its weight in carbon emissions."
The practice has a spiritual aspect in that it gives time to reflect on the associations each article can bring. There's another benefit for us church members: we can contribute our unwanted goods to a church sale that likely will benefit those in low-income communities. As an example, Insight's sponsoring congregation, St. Stephen UMC in Mesquite, Texas, holds an annual garage sale. Last year, a grandmother told us she was able to clothe her grandchildren for school at a far less cost than buying their outfits commercially.
I've started going through my clothes – they're the easiest to start giving up, says Coren – to gather contributions for our church's sale. We also have a garage stuffed with items that we didn't put back into our house after recovering from a flood caused by a burst pipe seven years ago. It will be a relief to get some furniture and decorative items out of the garage. Now we have to discipline ourselves not to buy anything more!
Summer seasonal affective disorder is real
Think I'm exaggerating the heat's effects? Texas Monthly magazine agrees with my feeling of malaise. Check out its article, "Think Seasonal Affective Disorder Is a Winter Thing? Try Living Through Texas Summer." It's behind a paywall, but it's worth the price. The article made me feel less anxious about my depression, even if it didn't lessen my overall malaise. That will take the return of cooler temperatures.
Fingerprints of climate change in July
July was miserable. From our colleagues at Climate Central (see illustration above and link to interactive graphic):
- Analysis using the Climate Shift Index, Climate Central’s daily temperature attribution tool, indicates that human-caused climate change made July’s extreme heat far more likely.
- At least 2 billion people around the world—one-quarter of the global population—felt a very strong influence of climate change on each day in July.
- Those living near the equator and on small islands experienced the strongest influence of human-caused climate change on temperatures during July.
- Levels of July heat in the southern U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean would have been extremely unlikely without human-caused climate change.
- In the U.S., 244 million people—73% of the population—experienced at least one July day with temperatures made at least three times more likely due to human-caused climate change.
Other climate headlines:
From The Guardian:
'A standard will save lives' Big business lobbies against heat protections for workers as US boils
From the Washington Post:
As the world boils, a backlash to climate action gains strength
"U.N. Secretary General António Guterres has a habit of making apocalyptic pronouncements about climate change. But his latest warning, as scientists confirmed that July was set to become the Earth’s hottest month on record, is impossible to ignore. 'The era of global warming has ended,' Guterres declared in a news briefing at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York. 'The era of global boiling has arrived.'”
From UM News:
New England Conference Church becomes 'water library'
MORRISVILLE, Vt. — Though United Community Church of Morrisville was unaffected by recent flooding, its surrounding community was hard hit. The municipal water supply was rendered unsafe. The church turned itself into a “water library,” housing donated clean water brought from stores or drawn from wells. “We called it a library because people brought what they could and took what they needed for free,” wrote the Rev. Becca Girrell in a report to the New England Conference, adding that the church gave out 2,150 gallons of water in one week.Read story
ChamilleWhite Getty Images/iStockphoto
Tree seedlings
Only 56 of 605 plant nurseries in 20 northern states them grow and sell seedlings in the volumes needed for conservation and reforestation. (Photograph: ChamilleWhite/Getty/iStockphoto)
From The Guardian First Thing:
US reforestation plans face key problem – lack of tree seedlings
Remember the tree-planting effort of United Methodists in Zimbabwe? The Guardian's First Thing newsletter reports:
"In an effort to slash carbon emissions and provide relief from extreme heat, governments across the country and globally have pledged to plant trees. But the US does not have enough seedlings to furnish its plans, according to a study. The country’s nurseries do not grow nearly enough trees to bring ambitious planting schemes to fruition, and they lack the species diversity those plans require, according to research published in the journal Bioscience on Monday. As part of the study, 13 scientists examined 605 plant nurseries across 20 northern states. Only 56 – less than 10% – grow and sell seedlings in the volumes needed for conservation and reforestation.
"The team also found that forest nurseries tended to maintain a limited inventory of a select few species of trees, with priority placed on those valued for commercial timber production. As a result, there is an “overwhelming scarcity of seedlings” that are well-suited for climate plans, the authors write."
Media Mentions as of July 28, 2023
What is the Methodist schism impact on Millsaps College? It's more than money – The Clarion-Ledger
Letters to the Editor - Maternal deaths, Plano firebombing, Joppa, Santos Rodriguez, A&M – Dallas Morning News
Flames removed from Methodist church cross after denomination split - Herald-Review.com
Mozambicans Form Pan-Methodist Council – UM News:
Africa University Creates College of Engineering and Applied Sciences – AU News
UMC Bishops Continue #DismantlingRacism Campaign – YouTube
Cote d'Ivoire Seminary Runs on Solar – General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
Thanks to David W. Scott of UM & Global for collecting some of these headlines.
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An award-winning religion journalist who has reported on The United Methodist Church at all levels for 35 years, Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011. "Crisis Watch" forms part of Insight's participation in Covering Climate Now, an international collaboration of some 500 news outlets around the world committed to enhance climate coverage. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please email Insight for permission.