Warm Summer Nights
Climate Central Graphic
A United Methodist Insight Column
Dear Readers, it's predicted to be 102 degrees for a high temperature today in Dallas where United Methodist Insight is produced. The heat index, the measure of heat's "real feel," is forecast to be between 105 and 110, with a possibility of going as high as 115 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
So, this edition of Crisis Watch focuses on summer heat intensified by the effects of global climate change. Experts are now predicting that 2023 is likely to go down as the hottest year in recorded history. Churches will need to pay close attention to these reports to determine the hazards for summer activities including worship and to take steps to lessen heat effects.
Scorching days, sweltering nights
From Climate Central comes the warning that as summer is heating up across the U.S., sweltering nights also play a major role in the health risks from excessive heat.
"Sweltering nights can prolong heat stress and related health risks during the hottest time of year. Heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S., and warming nights worsen heat-related health risks," says the non-profit website.
Climate Central analyzed average summer minimum (nighttime) temperatures from 1970 to 2022 in 247 U.S. locations. Summaries below are based on 241 locations (see Methodology).
- Summer nights have warmed by 2.7°F across the contiguous U.S. since 1970.
- Since 1970, average summer minimum (nighttime) temperatures have warmed in 230 (95% of 241) U.S. locations analyzed by Climate Central.
- The average nighttime warming across these 230 locations was 3°F.
- Summer nights have warmed by 4°F or more in one-quarter of these 230 locations.
Extreme rainfal
Map Courtesy of First Street Foundation
New extreme rainfall risk as well
Climate change also is producing more intense rains and flooding around the United States because warmer air holds more water, according to a new report from the non-profit First Street Foundation. The worst-hit places in the U.S. so far are parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. First Street's data show that about 20 percent of the U.S. should prepare for extreme rain events, known as 1-in-100-year storms, to occur every 25 years. First Street offers an interactive guide that shows the flood risk for any U.S. address -- a resource that churches and congregations should use.
Climate change destabilizing insurance
Another development that cash-strapped churches don't need: climate change is also destabilizing the insurance industry, reports Maxine Joselow in The Washington Post's Climate 202 newsletter (202 is the telephone area code for Washington).
As Joselow writes, the effects of weather-related disasters have put such severe strain on insurors that "there are no simple solutions."
"In California, State Farm and Allstate recently stopped selling new home insurance policies after years of catastrophic wildfires. In Louisiana, at least seven insurance companies have failed since Hurricane Ida. And in Florida, most big insurance companies have already pulled out of the storm-battered state.
"In these disaster-prone states, the climate crisis is fueling an insurance crisis, leaving homeowners struggling to find affordable coverage. Yet policymakers have few easy fixes at their fingertips."
Among the possible, though difficult, solutions being proposed:
Subsidize policies for low-income people. Low-income communities often are situated in high-risk places such as flood plains, making it next to impossible to get insurance. That risk leads to another suggestion:
Encourage "managed retreat." This option is about getting people to leave their homes located in areas that have become "too difficult or expensive to live in because of rising seas, stronger storms or other impacts of a warming world," writes Joselow.
You can get this information and more for free by providing your email address through June 29, as The Washington Post is dropping its paywall (Insight pays for its WaPo subscription). Once the paywall goes back up, you still can sign up for The Climate 202.
What to do about all these risks?
Human nature inclines us to throw up our hands at these overwhelming developments, but as climate experts tell us, there are two keys to reversing and surviving the global scorching crisis: mitigation and adaptation. Two coming webinars may help give churches some tactics:
There's still to register for the ecumenical Creation Justice Ministries webinar, "Extreme Heat: How Can Churches Respond" scheduled at 7 p.m. EDT June 29. The webinar focuses on "fostering community strength in the context of extreme heat events," says a press release.
"We will explore practical approaches to building resilience and protecting communities during extreme heat events," says Karyn Bigelow, co-executive director of Creation Justice Ministries. "From establishing cooling stations and providing access to safe drinking water to implementing heat response plans. Our panelists will share valuable insights and best practices for churches and community members." Register Here
Next, Third Act, the elder-focused activist organization co-founded by United Methodist layman and environmental godfather Bill McKibben, will hold the fourth episode of its "Eldering Series" with a July 10 webinar, "A Cross-Generation Chat on Money, Culture and Affection."
So what do "money, culture and affection" have to do with surviving climate change? Plenty, according to McKibben and other Third Act activists, who just held a successful nationwide demonstration against banks that fund fossil-fuel companies which are a major cause of global scorching.
To reduce or stop global scorching, we must change the systems that are causing it, and those changes won't happen without multigenerational action. Young people have been sounding the alarm for years that their future is at dire risk, so it's urgent to have conversations about how to move government and business policy makers to stop global scorching before it's too late.
The Third Act event takes place at 3:30 p.m. EDT on July 10. RSVP Here
Media Mentions
As I wrote previously, Media Mentions no longer includes local headlines about disaffiliations from the UMC. We agree with Bishop Leonard Fairley of the Kentucky Conference: The United Methodist Church is about so much more than who's leaving over sexuality. We'll report on the disaffiliation movement elsewhere on Insight.
Newly ordained United Methodist ministers talk about hopes for church - The Oklahoman
Eagle Scouts build pavilion for Savannah United Methodist Church - New Castle News
Service over Self: Mississippi teens changing lives - Magnolia State Live
Service Over Self teams making a difference in others' lives - The Vicksburg Post
First United's Adventure Week raised $1500 for OBPD | Observer Local News
Bishop totaled her Prius, compares it to United Methodist church split - al.com
Alabama United Methodists Want to End Ban on Gay Marriage | - The Daily Beast
Details of church order not yet set | News | jonesborosun.com
'You just feel the hate': Fowler United Methodist Church works to rebuild after vandalism ... –Capital Gazette
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.