We continue our review of the Laudato Si’ movement’s, “Ten Myths About Caring for Creation”.  6)  We can’t know how much climate change is occurring due to a lack of records over hundreds of years.  National Geographic reports that windows to the past are buried in tree rings, lakes, oceans, and layers of polar ice sheets.  These data show that greenhouse gas concentrations are higher than they’ve been for hundreds of thousands of years.  7) Pope Francis is the first pope to bring up caring for creation.  While Laudato Si’ is the first papal encyclical on ecology, popes have been addressing it for decades, including Pope Paul VI, Saint John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI.  8)  Climate models are not accurate.  Research at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reviewed 14 past climate models, finding no evidence of over or underestimating warming over the time periods studied. 9)  The world cannot stop the climate crisis.  Transitioning to a carbon-free future, while challenging, is possible using many different energy efficiencies, including renewable energy and improved fuel economy.  Economists estimate that money not spent now will be dwarfed by the costs of future damage.  10)  The situation is hopeless.  In 2015, 197 countries signed the Paris Climate Agreement, the first universal legally binding global climate change agreement to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius.  42 faith institutions in 14 countries have announced commitment to fossil fuel divestment, including the Vatican. 
 
 Submitted by Sharon Barron