In his much-anticipated encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si, Pope Francis says that “the Church does not presume to settle scientific questions” (188).
And yet, the document says:
“A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events. …”
“This is not correct,” writes William M Briggs in a great analysis of the Pope’s Encyclical. “We are not witnessing a “disturbing warming” of the climatic system,” says Briggs. “Satellite and balloon measurements show that global temperatures have been, on average, flat for almost twenty years.
The Laudato Si goes on to say:
“Scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others) released mainly as a result of human activity.”
“Scientific studies?”
“Scientific studies gave us a theory,” says Briggs. “It’s that theory that says temperatures have risen when they haven’t. It’s theory that insists storms have become more frequent and stronger when the opposite is so. It’s theory that drives a sense of urgency that something has to be done before it’s too late, with proposed solutions that would do nothing to cool the climate but could have dire consequences for the poor and vulnerable.”
Read all of this great commentary:
https://stream.org/laudato-si-science-global-warming-loud-clear-mistaken/
Thanks to Andrew Stranglen for this link
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