A Franciscan brother has offered some advice about sticking to the point and avoiding reference to polarizing labels in the discussion of the important issues of global warming and climate change.

Brother Kevin Smith, associate professor of religious studies at Felician College in Lodi, N.J., said during a workshop at a recent United Nations conference on climate change: “Global warming has been tagged as a ‘liberal’ topic, which leads many to dismiss it. But, as with many other hot-button topics today, the real issue is not whether an argument is liberal or conservative ... but whether it is in line with evidence. The evidence clearly points to a pending environmental and social disaster if we do not act quickly and decisively to address global warming.”

Brother Smith pointed to a 2001 U.S. bishops’ statement on global climate change, saying the document “reminds Catholics of their call to be stewards of God’s creation ... to be responsible caretakers of the environment.”

But the bishops aren’t the only ones saying this. Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized the same point in several recent messages.

“Preservation of the environment, promotion of sustainable development and particular attention to climate change are matters of grave importance for the entire human family,” he said in a Sept. 1 message to an environmental symposium in Greenland. No one can ignore the “ethical implications” involved, he said, adding that scientific research indicates individual human activity can have “worldwide effects.”

The U.S. bishops said in their 2001 statement on climate change that what a scientific consensus says about global warming cannot be easily dismissed, and this justifies taking action to avert potential dangers. “If enough evidence indicates that the present course of action could jeopardize humankind’s well-being, prudence dictates taking mitigating or preventative action,” they wrote.

This observation was made six years ago. Since then the body of evidence has grown.

For example, a February report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations concluded that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activity is very likely causing the rise in temperatures around the globe.

The report from an international network of climate change scientists said that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide “have increased markedly as a result of human activities.” The increases in carbon dioxide concentration are due primarily to fossil fuel use and land-use change, and the increase in methane and nitrous oxide is mainly due to agriculture.

Most of the increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century has been “very likely” due to the increase in greenhouse gases, according to the report.
“Discernible human influences now extend to other aspects of climate, including ocean warming, continental-average temperatures, temperature extremes and wind patterns.”

Another report in April by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change detailed the effects of climate change caused by the build up of greenhouse gases. The panel predicted widening droughts in some parts of the world and flooding in other areas such as low-lying islands and river deltas.

This report described how species, water supplies, ice sheets and regional climate conditions are already responding to the buildup of heat. And authors of the report concluded with “high confidence” — about an eight in 10 chance — that human-caused warming over the past three decades has had a “discernible influence on many physical and biological systems.”

Following the February report of the U.N. panel, Bishop Thomas G. Wenski, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Policy, called for action in a letter to congressional leaders. “Prudence sometimes keeps us from acting precipitously,” he wrote. “In this case, it requires us to act with urgency and seriousness.”

With the evidence mounting, this ought to be a matter of urgency. Perhaps one way to begin addressing the issue is — as Franciscan Brother Kevin Smith suggested — put partisan and ideological divisions aside, examine the scientific evidence and focus on the common good.

As the U.S. bishops said, “It’s about the future of God’s creation and the one human family.”