Global Warming or Global Cooling? The Debate Continues

Many places around the world have been experiencing an unusually cold winter.

This winter, Cairo, Egypt experienced its first snow in 112 years. The largest one-year drop in temperature ever recorded in the U.S. happened in 2013. The Antarctic sea ice is at a record high. The city in which I live had its coolest winter in 100 years. Chicago reportedly had its coldest winter on record. So, is it safe to say that the global warming scare is over?

Keith Schaefer, the editor of a publication which deals with oil and gas investments is one who thinks it is. He believes the cooling trend may last another 20 years. And He apparently thinks there is something of a scandal among scientists and public servants who “have been manipulating the basic raw data that most everyone relies on to calculate climate change.” Schaefer points to historical records which seem to indicate the earth has warmed up and cooled down in regular cycles. Furthermore he believes the major force behind these cycles of climate change are sunspots, not human activity.

Not everyone will agree with the theory of global cooling, of course. They may point to the unusual heat wave Australia has had to endure during its recent summer. But it seems Keith Schaefer shouldn’t be so rapidly dismissed as a fraud because of his job. He is in the business of advising people on making investments in oil and gas companies. His business would quickly fail if he was unscrupulously making predictions without some careful research.

What should creationists and other Christians think about the global warming / global cooling debate? First of all, this debate does not directly deal with our faith or beliefs. The Bible does not address this issue, at least as it applies to current times. One can be a creationist and a biblical Christian and be on either side of the debate. 

This issue does give us some food for thought, however. When it comes to climate change, whichever way it is going, we must maintain our humility. Because we get all our warmth directly or indirectly from the sun, it makes sense that the sun should be considered the main if not the only cause of climate change. If it is the sun, there doesn’t seem to be much we puny humans can do about it. When the efforts of humans are matched up against the forces of nature - hurricanes, earthquakes, the sun, etc. we are hopelessly overmatched.

Still, we should not shirk our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation. Treating God’s gift to us of a beautiful world with indifference is liking treating any other gift from a loved one with extreme carelessness, as if we weren’t appreciative of the gift.

Finally, don’t despair. The pictures of future gloom for the earth which are often painted for us ignore God’s immense love and care. That God gave us a beautiful world and was willing to send His own Son down to earth to die for our sins is proof enough He cares deeply for us. David said in Psalm 8:3-4:

When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

Reference: Keith Schaefer, “Global Cooling — The REAL Inconvenient Truth: Part 1,” Yahoo News / Accesswire

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QUESTION OF THE DAY

Is taking a nap a good or a bad thing?

In general, naps that last longer than 30 or 40 minutes or occur late in the day can disrupt nighttime sleep. However, a brief nap, especially one less than 30 minutes and taking place in the early afternoon, are probably okay.

Source: Mayo Clinic Health Letter Special Report (February, 2014)

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