Record-breaking climate

The British are notorious for talking about the weather. It’s little wonder given that we live on an island which is subject to constantly changing weather systems. In last month’s column I talked about how ready the UK is for a changing climate, and how we are already experiencing hotter, drier summers but also more intense summer rainfall.

No sooner had I emailed my article to en than the world experienced a series of weather extremes which perfectly illustrated this point, so I make no apologies for returning to the subject.

Record-breaking heatwave

First, there was the heatwave in western Canada and the US at the end of June. A new high temperature record of 49.6°C was set in Canada, beating the previous high not by a few fractions of a degree but by more than 4°C in one go. It’s hard to imagine what living in such heat is like, especially for a country better known for its winter sports than its beach holidays. Hundreds of people died from heat-related illnesses, and there were also reports of mass die-offs of marine wildlife.

Closer to home, the UK’s July heatwave saw thousands of people enjoying the summer sun. Meanwhile the residents of Ballywatticock in County Down, Northern Ireland, saw the province’s hottest day ever with a new record of 31.2°C.

Now one of the first things I learnt in school geography lessons is that weather is not climate. We have to be careful before attributing extreme weather events to climate change, as the weather – especially in Britain – is naturally variable. But we can be reasonably confident that as average global temperatures increase more high temperature records will be broken. In the case of the Canadian heatwave, researchers have gone as far as to say that the chances of it occurring without climate change were virtually impossible.

Record-breaking rainfall

It’s the same with summer rainfall. Warmer air holds more moisture which can fall with more intensity. Record-breaking rainfall in western Germany in July resulted in devastating floods there and in neighbouring Belgium and the Netherlands. Houses were swept away and many lives were lost. Part of the shock was the suddenness and severity of the impact in a rich nation with high standards of buildings and infrastructure. Not long afterwards, the Chinese city of Zhengzhou was hit by fatal flooding, trapping passengers on the underground railway and turning streets into rivers. All this came after record-breaking rainfall; the equivalent of an average year’s rainfall fell in just three days.

It’s tempting to think that this is nothing new and that we’re just more aware of global events because of modern media. However, all this is entirely consistent with what climate scientists have been predicting; if anything, they are starting to question whether their climate models are sensitive enough to predict how extreme the extremes are really turning out to be.

Christians may also wonder whether this is part of God’s judgment on the world. After all, if God was capable of sending drought and then rain in the time of Elijah, he is certainly still capable today (James 5: 17-18). As I’ve said before, I think there is an element of judgment, in that humanity has brought potential disaster on itself by polluting the atmosphere. But we certainly shouldn’t blame the victims of heatwaves or floods, but should rather show compassion and practical help for them.

What can we do?

Before too long, many churches will be celebrating Harvest Festival. It’s good to thank God for His gifts in Creation this way. However, many churches will be celebrating a Climate Sunday in the run-up to the UN conference on climate change in Glasgow in November. If your church hasn’t already organised this, why not combine the two, or at the very least make sure that your church is praying for wise decisions to be made that will care for creation’s future.