気候変動のJonah

私は実際にできれば教育する私を何かを知ることを望む。 エジプトを去った後、古代イスラエル人は呷き、不平を言い、そして偽の偶像を崇拝し、そして次に悲惨である砂漠でさまよう40年を過ごした。

別の時間、神はNinevehに世界悪予言者、神人々の敵のAssyria 1の古代首都を差し向けた。 Jonahは結局彼が実際に憎んだこれらの人々の破壊を説教することを進んだ。

最初のグループは神人々、かなりあるすばらしい事を見た。 イナゴ、カエル、血の川、石からの水。 第2グループはこの狂気の人が(言っていた魚の病人で僅かなそれらがどうしても彼をその場で殺さなかった驚き、与えられて彼は覆われた)である原料ことをの何も神人々、推定上知っていたではなかったし今までのところでは「回った彼らの邪悪な方法から」。 相違は何だったか。

私が頼んでいる理由は地球温暖化が私達の一生の間に直面するためにがはっきり私達の深刻な問題本当らしいであることにそれが私にようであることである。 率直であるためには、それは私をおびえさせる。 一流の気候の科学者のが今と去年の二酸化炭素ターゲット言っていること、例えば知った IPCC レポートは深刻な過大評価だったか。 彼の計算に従って、国際的な交渉は真実が私達は実際に大気の/absolute/量を減らさなければならないことである一方-私達は大気の温室効果ガスの増加の/rate/を減らしてもいいと仮定するすべてであるので無意味である。 本当なら、それは大きい分枝を有する。 経済成長を引き起こす現在の二酸化炭素により安定させることは十分によくない。 私達は実際に削減しなければならない。

And given that we are within the 10% of the world’s population rich enough to actually read and understand these words, that has implications to the way we live our lives.

Or try this one: did you know that 50% of all food produced by farms in America is wasted before anyone eats it? That, if we somehow had the technology and willpower, all that wasted food in a year could meet half the annual import needs for the entire continent of Africa. That amount is just the wasted food from the UK. Imagine the amount of wasted food from all the developed countries. Think of all the cost of producing that food, only for it to end up in the dustbin.

The problem is not the thousands of people in Egypt fighting over bread or the billions living in absolute poverty, who face an even more uncertain future due to climate change. The problem is the small percentage of rich people who are taking more than their fair share: us.

I know many of us have been banging on about this for a long time. And I know there are some churches which have really grasped the message. But is anyone actually prepared to repent of their wealthy lifestyles and face up to their responsibility for our greed which is causing the climate to change? OK, we might be prepared to change a few light bulbs, but is that honestly going to stop the tsunami that is coming?

This morning in church, I heard something a bit like this from the pulpit - “Climate change is a fact. But thinking about it can paralyze us because of the magnitude of the problem. So I just want you to remember this: don’t panic, God is in control.”

Don’t panic? Millions are dying because of the human greed of a few rich fat people, and the church is telling us “not to panic?” Whilst panicking might not be the best move in the face of a global catastrophe, surely repentance is. Costly repentance. The kind that says actually my lifestyle is totally wrong and I need to change my ways, fast. God being in control in some ways is irrelevant. From my bible knowledge, it seems quite likely to me that we are going to have to live with the consequences of our actions. God being in control does not necessarily offer a Get Out of Jail Free Card for the future. So what does this knowledge mean in our own lives, and how do we get the message out? How do we do better than Moses - with all his multi-media presentations and flashy graphics - and take lessons from the miserable, soaked, sick-smelling Jonah? Is there any point in even trying?

Author Bio:: Joe Turner is an angry 30-something with a bad memory for dates. He is founder of the Freedom Clothing Project - an effort to bring trade to some pretty dark places - a regular contributor to the Celsias climate change blog, a husband, father and ham-fisted user of theology. Blunt and annoying.

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