Why is it so hot right now?

Why is it so hot right now?
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This has been a very hot past month on planet Earth.

In Pakistan, temperatures reached almost 130 degrees Fahrenheit—one of the highest temperatures ever recorded. The New York Times quoted Noroz Bin Shabir, a student from the town of Turbat, saying, “It got so hot that people here said that there is no difference between Turbat and hell. It was like a fire was burning outside.”

In Rome, seat of the Vatican City and center of the Catholic Church, the municipality is considering rationing water due to drought and high temperatures.

As the New York Times reported, “It’s Not Your Imagination. Summers Are Getting Hotter. Extraordinarily hot summers — the kind that were virtually unheard-of in the 1950s — have become commonplace."

The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development

In the middle of the night my son woke up and said, 'it is so hot in here!' It's very hot now, and the heat is breaking records. And this is because there are other records for humanity and the planet that are being broken each year: -the number of cars and trucks being driven -the number of passengers on airplanes, and flights flown -the amount of meat people eat -the number of cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, and fish in factory farms -human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere (including from cows under our control).

We can't simultaneously skyrocket our consumption and population and expect that the earth will continue to support us. It is messaging through the extreme heat that we are out of balance, and are bringing the earth out of balance. When will we wake up? In the words of the Jewish sage Hillel, if not now, when?

To turn the tide on climate change, a critical mass of people need to undergo consciousness change and consumption change. At a practical level, it involves bicycles and public transport instead of cars, and local vacations instead of jet getaways.

Last week, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders in Jerusalem came together to call jointly for action on climate change. Overlooking the walls of the Old City, the interfaith event served as a counterpoint to the recent violence in Jerusalem's Old City. (Several studies cite climate change as a 'threat multiplier' and key factor that is exacerbating violent conflict in the Middle East. It is not coincidental that violence in Jerusalem has spiked over the past number of years during the hot summer months.) The interfaith event focused on the critical role of faith leaders in increasing awareness about the moral obligation for environmental sustainability and curbing climate change. It was organized by the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, which I direct.

At the event, a letter was released that was signed by 37 Israeli Orthodox rabbis calling for immediate climate action. The rabbis cite several Jewish teachings, and then affirm that “97% of climate scientists and all the major science academies worldwide– an overwhelming consensus– state that climate change is occurring, is primarily caused by human activities, and must be addressed immediately in order for life on earth to continue to survive and thrive... Israel is especially threatened by climate change. The Middle East is a very hot, dry area and projections are that it will become hotter and dryer, making instability, violence, terrorism, and war more likely. Also, much of Israel’s population and infrastructure are threatened by a rising Mediterranean Sea inundating Israel’s coastal plain.” The letter was organized by Dr. Richard Schwartz and Jewish Climate Initiative, a project of Jewish Eco Seminars.

Climate change is the greatest long-term challenge to human civilization, requiring a major investment of human spiritual and physical energy and capital today to have a good chance of perpetuating a robust human civilization in the future. While we relate to climate change as if it is a long-term issue, since the most severe impacts are decades away, what we do in the coming short number of years will likely be the clutch decision for human civilization. We need to relate to it now as if we’re in the bottom of the ninth and put all of our spiritual and physical resources to addressing our spiritual and ecological crisis.

The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development

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