The former head of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scientific assessment team is John Houghton, a physicist who has been studying carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for forty years. He has a better understanding of the science of atmospheric CO₂ than just about anyone, so we should pay attention to what he says.

John Houghton is also a Christian.

Christianity Today has an interview with him: Looking after creation: Acclaimed physicist Sir John Houghton discusses his motives and passion for a cooler world climate. The article was posted nine months ago, but I just saw the link on the CT web site today. Here are some excerpts:

We have a strong Christian responsibility to care for the earth and every part of creation. We also have a very strong Christian responsibility to care for each other in the world, our neighbors in other countries, especially those who are poor and who need a lot of help in order to get them out of poverty.

Some parts of the industrialized world may actually be better off because of global warming, because carbon dioxide is a fertilizer, and if the rainfall and other things are right, it will help us to grow crops with a little more yield. So there will be a tendency for global warming to create an even bigger disparity between the rich world and the poor world. That’s really not a good situation from a Christian point of view or from any point of view.

Parallel to knowing God as Creator is knowing him also as Redeemer, as the one who sent his Son into the world to die for us and to rise again from the dead and to become our living Lord. And one day he will come back to earth to renew creation. There’s a future for creation clearly taught in Scripture—a transformed creation. In the meantime, we’re meant to look after creation on his behalf, as stewards for the Lord who is at present away.

I think the scientific debate is essentially over, but there has been a big misinformation campaign, particularly in the United States, to persuade people that what scientists are saying is not true or exaggerated.

I’m still a fence rider on human-caused global warming, but I’m leaning toward the “human-caused” side of the fence.

Grace and Peace