Religion and Global Climate Change: A Handbook for Faith Leaders and Climate Activists

This anthology describes the seriousness of climate change through a series of twenty depictions of how the world is already changing because of rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It lists the major religious declarations about climate change and provides the spiritual, moral and ethical rationales for the statements from each of the world's major Christian and world religious organizations. Commentary is provided from a wide range of religious leaders. The book includes a spectrum of scientific leaders and organizations and their rationales for urging strong action on climate change. This includes Dr. James Hansen, Dr. Katherine Hayhoe, Rev. Richard Cizik, Rabbi Warren Stone, Fr. Jacek Orzechowski OFM, Patriarch Bartholomew, Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Dr. Lise Van Susteren, MD, Christiana Figueres, UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, and Dr. James Gustave Speth. Additionally reports from many governmental organizations are presented including the IPCC, the World Bank, The Center for Naval Analysis, the National Academy of Sciences, The World Meteorological Organization, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The National Science Foundation, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The White House, The Union of Concerned Scientists and The Smithsonian Institution. The result of this compilation is that organized religion is becoming a united voice on the moral and ethical reasons for addressing global climate change as a crucial issue for our time.