Can be. But here is the thing, it's been around since creation. Hot, Cold, Hot , Cold etc..... In our time it's become a huge industry is the difference. Follow the bucks !! As to climate change itself, it reverses itself by design, there is someone far more powerful than us in charge. Ask the dinosaurs, they lived fat dumb and happy in a hot climate and wham, that door such and an ice age made way for the next open door. We make far too much of ourselves.
I was reading through this thread and this post illustrates a minor frustration I have on this issue.
It's no big secret that most politically conservative Christians deny climate change. And, they tend to correctly point out that according to science, the earth has gone through hot and cold cycles throughout its history. This means that the recent warming of our planet (which I believe can't be denied) is just a part of the Earth's natural cycles.
The problem I have with this is that this understanding is based on... evolutionary science. A Creationist model doesn't present such data. In fact, a Creationist model will illustrate that the Earth was quite warm prior to the Great Flood. The polar ice caps are essentially the flood waters that froze around the polar regions during the approximate year and 10 days that the flood was upon the Earth. And, it has been frozen solid since. Some findings are believed to be evidence of this. We are finding animals in the thawing ice that were frozen almost immediately, one was frozen while in the very process of eating. These specimens still have skin and muscle tissue that is fully intact and not decomposed. In the Creationist model, if the arctic ice cap has been freezing and thawing over the millennia, a lot of these specimens wouldn't be being found.
In the Creationist model, the polar ice caps are frozen remnants of the Great Flood. They didn't exist prior to the Flood. That means, they have NEVER thawed like they are thawing now since the Flood. This would mean that the earth is truly undergoing a unique warming. And yes, it would be traced back to beginning just after the Industrial Revolution, when carbon emissions did begin a steep and steady increase.
I'm also frustrated because I believe that the Earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. This is NOT our world. This world is God's world. He created it according to His will and purposes, not our own. Therefore, I believe man has a sacred obligation to care for and provide proper stewardship of the Earth. Clean soil, air, and water are essentials for human life. To pollute them with trash and toxic waste fails to demonstrate a love for one's neighbor and puts the lives and health of human beings in that region in danger. So, I do believe that environmental protection and conservation is a "Christian" obligation. In addition, the powers that be (corporate and governmental) tend to dump in poor undeveloped regions, endangering the impoverished people who live there. This is a tragic injustice. For the life of me, I don't know why Christians aren't on the front lines of environmental stewardship and conservation.
Personally, I enjoy fishing, hiking, and camping. I've also dabbled in birdwatching. I love taking my kids and sharing the beauty, majesty, and awe inspiring wonder of nature. And to be honest, I feel closer to God when I'm deep in the wilderness. In addition, it saddens me to think that so much of our pristine natural environments are in danger along with the species that inhabit these regions. I truly dread the day when my grand kids ask me what it was like to see an actual living tiger.
Now, I'm not a tree hugging crystal gazer. I'm just a Christian man. And yes, I typically support measures of conservation. I do not see the earth as something that can be truly "owned". The land, air, and water ways we use are on loan and will be inherited by future generations. Anything effecting the environment is never truly restricted to only the ones who legally "own" own it. Therefore, in my mind to contaminate these things endangers the life, liberty, and property of others. That being the case, the government is within it's limits to pass laws that protect the environment, lands, etc.
I was awakened to this topic back in my 20's when several major corporations wanted to build a strip mall in a local suburb. A problem arose when it became known that the wetlands that would need to be developed were home to a rare species of salamander. Suddenly the question was... Who has more of a "right" to the land? The corporations wanting to buy and develop it, or the species of salamander who have made that wetland their home for centuries? To my dismay, most local churches began mocking the notion of protecting the salamander. What troubled me was that they couldn't see beyond their idea that it was just a "silly animal". But it is the principle. If you don't protect one of God's creations in the land it was given by God, when does it end? When will any of these precious creations be protected? Again, to me it's a matter of sound stewardship of God's world.
Therefore, if the evidence is that the climate is more rapidly warming in relation to rising carbon emissions, I believe we as Christians have a moral obligation, a sacred obligation, to act in the best interests of God's creation and our neighbors who inhabit the regions that would be most heavily effected by climate change.
God created man from the dust of the Earth. Therefore, man is a part of the Earth. Whatever happens to the Earth, will ultimately happen to man. We are a part of the web of living things that God created. If we do not take special care not to upset the balance and embrace the interconnectedness of nature, we could end up creating a problem that can cost untold numbers of human beings their health or their very lives. And so, to love one's neighbor and honor God's creation is to ensure that there is clean soil, air, and water. No amount of "property rights" or "profit" can justify disregarding these things. For what would it profit a man to gain the whole world... and not be able to breathe the air or drink the water???
That's my understanding and those are my personal convictions on the matter.
