28
BAMOS
Sept 2017
Climate change and Christianity is a
positive feedback loop
Justin Oogjes. PhD Student
School of Earth Sciences, Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, National Environmental Science Program, Australian
Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of Melbourne.
[email protected].
The title of this article states that climate change and Christianity
is a positive feedback loop. I will explain why below. I’m sure this
is also true of other religions, but I am coming from a Christian
perspective.
My interest in weather started way back in 1992, when I was on
a family trip to Uluru. It was the Christmas holidays, and it had
been raining and was muddy outside. It was late one afternoon
and I was out playing and running around with my sister, getting
muddy at the same time. I remember a storm approached, so
my sister and I ran back to our caravan.
To our dismay, Dad wouldn’t let us back in because we were too
muddy and needed to wash the mud off. By this time the storm
had approached, with some lightning and thunder. I stared
up at the storm and happened to see one lightning bolt that
seemed closer than it was. Nonetheless, it scared me, while at
the same time filling me with wonder and the question “What
makes a storm?” That marked the start of my journey towards
my current PhD.
Around this time and later into high school I was also troubled.
I was not popular at school, a teacher’s pet actually. I was the
student who got top grades while being bullied by the guys my
sister was dating. This trouble led me to find peace in life, and
thanks to my grandparents and best friend, I found this peace
in Christianity. The teachings of Jesus gave me more peace in
life, and helped me feel comfortable in my own skin. The Bible
also helps me to understand life is a journey, and to enjoy that
journey.
Part of enjoying that journey is through satisfying my curiosity
about the natural world. I almost went into astrophysics, but
climate science was closer to home. In addition, the threats
posed by climate change, including sea level rise, loss of the
Great Barrier Reef, threats from bushfires, more threats from
heatwaves and their impacts on urban areas worried me
enough to warrant doing something about it. The question
that then often arises is how I can be a Christian, but also be
interested in climate science?
Image: Rain on Uluru by John Slaytor from the 2014 Head On photo festival.