Apr 7, 2025 06:43 PM
(This post was last modified: Apr 7, 2025 06:44 PM by C C.)
Scientists blame climate change for spread of infectious diseases and unleashing of ice-locked microbes in Arctic
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079613
INTRO: Climate change is creating new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases like brucellosis, tularemia, or E. coli in the Arctic, according to a broad international consortium of scientists with a wide range of expertise in human, animal, and environmental health in the North Pole.
The scientists have published their findings in the journal Science of the Total Environment in which they demonstrate how the melting ice is opening new areas for travel or industry with people coming into closer contact with the once pristine Arctic. They warn that the thawing of soil frozen for thousands of years in the Arctic could unlock dormant microbes housed in bodies of dead animals and other creatures, raising the risk of diseases with pandemic potential... (MORE - details, no ads)
New study finds that 90 percent of U.S. Christian leaders believe climate change is real
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079512
INTRO: From Catholics to Evangelicals, a surprising 90 percent of Christian leaders in the U.S. believe in man-made climate change, yet most do not share that understanding with their congregants, according to a new report by Boston College researchers.
The findings hold implications for how Christians might help address climate change, knowing their beliefs about the climate crisis align with their church’s values, according to Boston College Assistant Professor of Psychology Gregg Sparkman, senior author of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
While some prominent Evangelical figures have denied the facts of climate change, a survey of 1,600 U.S. religious leaders found that nearly 90 percent of Christian leaders believe in anthropogenic climate change to some degree. This includes 60 percent who believe humans play a major role and an additional 30 percent who believe they play a role, but a more minor one, according to the report.
Yet roughly half the religious leaders have never discussed it with their congregation, and only a quarter have mentioned it more than once or twice, the survey found.
“Because of leadership’s silence on the matter, rank-and-file Christians think most of their leaders do not believe, and feel hesitant to even discuss climate change with their fellow churchgoers,” said Sparkman, who completed the study with Stylianos Syropoulos, a postdoctoral researcher at BC and now an assistant professor at Arizona State University.
“But, if you inform Christians that there's actually a strong consensus among their religious leaders on the issue, they infer belief in climate change is more common in their church generally, feel taking climate action is consistent with their church's values, and feel voting for a political candidate who fails to take climate action is inconsistent with their church's values,” added Sparkman, who directs the Social Influence and Social Change Lab at Boston College.
In a second survey of nearly 1,000 American Christians representative of major denominations, respondents underestimated the prevalence of their leaders who deny humans drive climate change by about five-fold—guessing roughly half of their leaders did not believe humans influence climate change while in fact only about 10 percent did. Conversely, having a religious leader who talks about climate change predicts greater willingness to discuss it with fellow church goers and attend climate events, the researchers found.
A third set of survey results came from nearly 1,000 American Christians, including about half the respondents who were informed that 90 percent of Christian leaders believe in man-made climate change. The experiment found awareness of that fact reduced congregants’ misperception of religious leaders, increased their perception that other church members believe in and are open to discussing climate change, and led Christians to believe that taking climate action is consistent with their church’s values while voting for politicians that won’t take climate action is not... (MORE - details, no ads)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079613
INTRO: Climate change is creating new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases like brucellosis, tularemia, or E. coli in the Arctic, according to a broad international consortium of scientists with a wide range of expertise in human, animal, and environmental health in the North Pole.
The scientists have published their findings in the journal Science of the Total Environment in which they demonstrate how the melting ice is opening new areas for travel or industry with people coming into closer contact with the once pristine Arctic. They warn that the thawing of soil frozen for thousands of years in the Arctic could unlock dormant microbes housed in bodies of dead animals and other creatures, raising the risk of diseases with pandemic potential... (MORE - details, no ads)
New study finds that 90 percent of U.S. Christian leaders believe climate change is real
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079512
INTRO: From Catholics to Evangelicals, a surprising 90 percent of Christian leaders in the U.S. believe in man-made climate change, yet most do not share that understanding with their congregants, according to a new report by Boston College researchers.
The findings hold implications for how Christians might help address climate change, knowing their beliefs about the climate crisis align with their church’s values, according to Boston College Assistant Professor of Psychology Gregg Sparkman, senior author of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
While some prominent Evangelical figures have denied the facts of climate change, a survey of 1,600 U.S. religious leaders found that nearly 90 percent of Christian leaders believe in anthropogenic climate change to some degree. This includes 60 percent who believe humans play a major role and an additional 30 percent who believe they play a role, but a more minor one, according to the report.
Yet roughly half the religious leaders have never discussed it with their congregation, and only a quarter have mentioned it more than once or twice, the survey found.
“Because of leadership’s silence on the matter, rank-and-file Christians think most of their leaders do not believe, and feel hesitant to even discuss climate change with their fellow churchgoers,” said Sparkman, who completed the study with Stylianos Syropoulos, a postdoctoral researcher at BC and now an assistant professor at Arizona State University.
“But, if you inform Christians that there's actually a strong consensus among their religious leaders on the issue, they infer belief in climate change is more common in their church generally, feel taking climate action is consistent with their church's values, and feel voting for a political candidate who fails to take climate action is inconsistent with their church's values,” added Sparkman, who directs the Social Influence and Social Change Lab at Boston College.
In a second survey of nearly 1,000 American Christians representative of major denominations, respondents underestimated the prevalence of their leaders who deny humans drive climate change by about five-fold—guessing roughly half of their leaders did not believe humans influence climate change while in fact only about 10 percent did. Conversely, having a religious leader who talks about climate change predicts greater willingness to discuss it with fellow church goers and attend climate events, the researchers found.
A third set of survey results came from nearly 1,000 American Christians, including about half the respondents who were informed that 90 percent of Christian leaders believe in man-made climate change. The experiment found awareness of that fact reduced congregants’ misperception of religious leaders, increased their perception that other church members believe in and are open to discussing climate change, and led Christians to believe that taking climate action is consistent with their church’s values while voting for politicians that won’t take climate action is not... (MORE - details, no ads)
