A United Methodist Insight Column
Hate to start the week on a downer, but the Aug. 29 Washington Post reports, "Greenland ice sheet set to raise sea levels by nearly a foot, study finds"
WashPost reporter Chris Mooney writes:
"Human-driven climate change has set in motion massive ice losses in Greenland that couldn’t be halted even if the world stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, according to a new study published Monday.
"The findings in Nature Climate Change project that it is now inevitable that 3.3 percent of the Greenland ice sheet will melt — equal to 110 trillion tons of ice, the researchers said. That will trigger nearly a foot of global sea-level rise.
"The predictions are more dire than other forecasts, though they use different assumptions. While the study did not specify a time frame for the melting and sea-level rise, the authors suggested much of it can play out between now and the year 2100."
This writer now lives inland in Dallas, Texas, but I grew up in Florida and still have family and friends there. A foot of sea level rise could wash away a lot of the Pinellas County peninsula where St. Petersburg lies and could even reach my brother's farm east of Tampa. It would certainly affect much of downtown Tampa at the confluence of the Hillsborough River with Tampa Bay.
There's still uncertainty about this report's conclusion. Mooney quotes another expert:
"Pennsylvania State University professor Richard Alley, an ice sheet expert, said the fact that researchers remain uncertain about how the planet’s ice sheets will change and raise global sea levels shows the need for more research.
“'The problems are deeply challenging, will not be solved by wishful thinking, and have not yet been solved by business-as-usual,' he said.
"But Alley added that it is clear that the more we let the planet warm, the more the seas will rise."
Is your home, business or church located near a seashore? What will happen if the ocean/sea/gulf rises a foot?
Sign Up for the Green Team Summit
The news about Greenland's ice sheet melting, along with the extreme weather we've experienced this year, make us even more eager for folks to attend The Green Team Summit, Rooted Together, happening in person and online Sept. 11-14. See the schedule and agenda, learn more, and register for free at greenteamsummit.org.
United Methodist Insight has joined UMC-related Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and United Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women) to co-sponsor the summit with its organizer, Faith in Place., the Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin Affiliate of Interfaith Power & Light. As we said last week, Insight doesn't usually sponsor events, but the latest climate change news reinforced our editorial perspective that people of faith must be active in climate solutions.
We're excited that the summit’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, chief climate scientist for The Nature Conservancy and a distinguished professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She writes in her online bio, "Together with my husband Andrew Farley who is a pastor and a best-selling author, I wrote A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions, a book that untangles the complex science and tackles many long-held misconceptions about global warming." Sounds like a good resource for any faith-based climate activist.
Round about go roundabouts
Speaking of Dr. Hayhoe, here's a note from her newsletter:
"Roundabouts, rather than intersections, are a great way to reduce carbon emissions (and injuries from traffic accidents). That's a win-win to me! "Roundabouts are popular around the world—France has 30,000 and the U.K. has 25,000, compared to just under 9,700 in the U.S. "Roundabouts reduce emissions by keeping vehicles moving, as opposed to idling at stoplights. Carmel, Indiana has 142 of them, the most of any U.S. city. In Carmel alone, roundabouts save 5,000 cars’ worth of carbon emissions and $14 million in gas each year."Wherever you live, ask your local officials to build more roundabouts!"
Speaking as a veteran driver, roundabouts take some practice to navigate, but they could be useful. We even had some of them here in traffic-challenged Texas.
Don't think you're alone, creation care activists
Finally, here's some encouragement from the Climate Beat newsletter of Covering Climate Now, a worldwide collaboration of more than 500 news outlets – including United Methodist Insight – committed to enhanced reporting on the global climate crisis:
"You’re not alone. Most Americans are concerned about climate change and think more should be done about it. But they think, mistakenly, that most of their fellow citizens don’t agree, a misperception that diminishes public pressure for action, according to a new study in Nature Communications. By Robin Lloyd for Scientific American…"
Media Mentions as of Aug. 29, 2022
United Methodist Church remains fractured over ordaining LGBTQ+ clergy - NPR
North Texas ministers say state abortion bans violate United Methodists' religious freedom – KERA News
Sewickley United Methodist Church remembering gun violence victims in outdoor display – EMEA Tribune
'Mother of the disabled' provides safe place for kids - UM News
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Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded n 2011. Her "Crisis Watch" column is part of Insight's participation in Covering Climate Now, a worldwide collaboration of more than 500 news outlets committed to enhanced reporting on the global climate crisis. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please email Insight for permission.