As the GOP26 U.N. climate conference is ongoing, the climate change issue has been a hot topic.
Since the beginning of this year, extreme weather around the world has obviously increased. The temperature in many parts of the world has fluctuated along with the chart with “extreme highs and lows” exceeding each other quite often. Record cold-air outbreaks, snowstorms, heavy rains, and warmer weather frequently appear. In 2021, many places in China have suffered from heavy rains and floods plus autumn rains in the north and high temperatures in the south.
The fundamental reason behind these superficial phenomena is global warming and the increasing instability of the climate system. Song Lianchun, director of the National Climate Center, said in early 2021, “The fundamental reason is that global warming has aggravated the instability of the climate system. Global warming will change the global atmospheric circulation and influence the local climate through the interaction between ocean and atmosphere, land and atmosphere.”
A few days ago, in a lecture titled “Business and Nature” held in East China, a Christian brother David, who is engaged in water pollution treatment with years of environmental protection experience, gave specific suggestions from his professional and personal experiences.
David, whose hometown is by the sea, said that the COVID-19 pandemic had had a very serious impact on the whole world, but at the same time, he also found another phenomenon that since the pandemic, the sea near his home had become much cleaner than before, and even small crabs that hadn’t been seen for a long time appeared. That surprised him much. It was precisely because of the COVID-19 pandemic that the travelling flow decreased and the influence of industrial production had reduced many man-made interferences and damages on the sea. Through this phenomenon, he observed, “Human beings need to give nature a rest and chance to recover.”
After that, he showed pictures of marine pollution: the coral reefs which were originally beautiful and colorful and in which fish swam, had turned into white, cold and lifeless coral graves because of the pollution of the marine environment. This is the phenomenon of coral bleaching.
In recent years, more and more extreme weather is occurring around the world, and abnormally high temperatures, drought, severe storms, tornadoes and floods are becoming increasingly frequent. Behind almost all extreme climates, global warming is the “causing trouble”. According to the data of the World Meteorological Organization, since the Industrial Revolution, the global average temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees, approaching the danger line of the Paris Agreement. On November 26th, 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations Environment Programme warned that once the temperature rose above the critical point of 1.5°C, the frequency and intensity of climate disasters would rise sharply.
Apart from the important forces of governments and society, what can ordinary Christians do in the workplace?
David said that many environmental problems were actually closely related to our greed and exploitation of the earth. He showed a video of secretly hunting sharks for shark fins, which proved the saying “the result of buying and selling is killing”. It was precisely because human beings longed to satisfy their own desires that the high price of shark fins led many people to endanger the life of a shark for its fins. And if we reduced the demand for certain meat, it could greatly improve the environment.
Finally, as for individual Christians, David called for actions immediately from all of us, and gave the following specific suggestions:
1. Support the recycling economy. Reduce the consumption of fuel and electricity, reduce the waste of food and water, and recycle plastics, metals, and paper etc.
For instance, children’s favorite toys should be made of various cartons. It cannot only save money but also help children establish the concept of environmental protection and lifestyle from an early age.
2. Adopt a low-carbon lifestyle. Have a low-carbon diet by reducing the appropriate amount of meat. Do more swimming, hiking, and play ball games outdoors.
3. Increase environmentally friendly transportation, such as walking, cycling, public transportation and carpooling.
4. For employees, they were encouraged to cook their own meals and bring lunch to work and reduce ordering take-outs, which would create a lot of garbage, especially plastic garbage.
For instance, when the pandemic began last year, he encouraged the employees of his company to make and take their own lunch to work. It was both hygienic and green. Now, for almost a year, many staff considered this method to be very good for their health and environment.
- Translated by Charlie Li
今年以来，全球各地的极端天气明显增多。世界不少地区的气温如同坐上了过山车，天气“忽冷忽热”，创纪录的寒潮、暴风雪、大雨和偏暖天气频繁出现。不仅我国今年多地遭遇暴雨、洪水，秋天出现北方连绵秋雨，南方普遍高温等各种现象，美国的高温和德国的洪水也令人苦不堪言。
这些表面现象背后的根本原因是全球变暖，气候系统的不稳定性加剧。国家气候中心主任宋连春表示：“根本原因是全球变暖加剧了气候系统的不稳定性。全球变暖会改变全球的大气环流形势，通过海洋和大气、陆地和大气的相互作用影响局地气候。”
日前，在华东地区举行的一场题为“商道与自然”的讲座中，一位从事水污染处理、并有着多年环保经验的基督徒大卫弟兄从专业和个人经历出发，分享了具体建议。
大卫的家乡在海边，他分享说新冠疫情对全世界都造成了非常严重的影响，但是与此同时他也发现另外一个现象，那就是自从疫情以来他家附近的大海相比之前变得干净了很多，甚至出现了已经很久没有出现过的小螃蟹，这让他感到十分惊喜。正是因为新冠疫情导致的人流量的较少和工业生产的影响，让大海减少了很多人为的影响和破坏。通过他观察到的这个现象，大卫弟兄说：“人类需要给大自然休息，让大自然得以恢复的机会。”
之后，他给大家展示了很多海洋污染的图片：原本美丽异常、五彩缤纷、鱼儿游弋其中的珊瑚礁群，现在却因为海洋环境的污染，变成了白色的、冰冷的、没有生命痕迹的珊瑚坟墓，——这就是珊瑚白化现象。
近年来，越来越多的极端气候现象正在全世界各地轮番出现，异常高温、干旱、强风暴、龙卷风、洪水等正在变得越来越频繁。而几乎所有极端气候现象的背后，都是全球变暖在“发飙作怪”，随着地球的升温，极端性的气候现象只会越发频繁地出现。根据世界气象组织数据，自从工业革命以来，全球平均温度上升了1.1度，已逼近《巴黎协定》危险线！2019年11月26日，联合国环境规划署的政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）曾警告说，一旦升温突破1.5°C的临界点，气候灾害发生的频率和强度将大幅上升。
而除了各国政府及社会重要力量外，我们普通、身在职场中的基督徒可以怎么做呢？
大卫弟兄说，很多环保问题的背后其实和我们人类的贪婪、对地球的剥削密不可分。大卫弟兄现场给大家看了一个秘密捕杀鲨鱼收割鱼翅的视频，让人看到“买卖的结果都是杀害”，正是因为人类为了满足自己的欲望，鱼翅的高昂的价格导致不少人铤而走险，为了一个鱼翅而不惜危害一条鲨鱼的生命。而我们人类减少使用一些肉类食物，这些就可以得到很大改善。
随后，大卫弟兄从自己实践的角度，呼吁我们立刻从我们自身做起采取行动，并分享了以下几点具体的建议：
1，支持循环经济。减少燃料、电力等的消耗，减少食物和水的浪费，回收利用塑料、金属、纸张等。
他举例说，自己家里面孩子最喜欢的玩具都是用各种纸箱自制而成的，这样不仅节省金钱，而且孩子从小就开始树立起环保的观念和生活方式。
2，采用低碳生活方式。低碳饮食，适当减少肉类食物，旅行和运动的时候可以安排更多的游泳，远足，球类运动等。
3，更多使用环保的交通方式，使用步行、骑自行车、公共交通、拼车等方式。
4，对于职场人士，大卫弟兄鼓励大家自己做饭带午餐到公司，减少外卖，外卖会制造非常多的垃圾尤其是塑料垃圾。
他举例说，去年疫情开始，他鼓励所在公司的员工开始自己做午餐带来公司吃，一是卫生，二是环保。到现在差不多一年多的时间，不少人觉得这种方式对自己的健康和环境保护都很好。
环保领域基督徒呼吁：面对全球变暖与气候变化，基督徒在日常生活中可以选择这么做
As the GOP26 U.N. climate conference is ongoing, the climate change issue has been a hot topic.
Since the beginning of this year, extreme weather around the world has obviously increased. The temperature in many parts of the world has fluctuated along with the chart with “extreme highs and lows” exceeding each other quite often. Record cold-air outbreaks, snowstorms, heavy rains, and warmer weather frequently appear. In 2021, many places in China have suffered from heavy rains and floods plus autumn rains in the north and high temperatures in the south.
The fundamental reason behind these superficial phenomena is global warming and the increasing instability of the climate system. Song Lianchun, director of the National Climate Center, said in early 2021, “The fundamental reason is that global warming has aggravated the instability of the climate system. Global warming will change the global atmospheric circulation and influence the local climate through the interaction between ocean and atmosphere, land and atmosphere.”
A few days ago, in a lecture titled “Business and Nature” held in East China, a Christian brother David, who is engaged in water pollution treatment with years of environmental protection experience, gave specific suggestions from his professional and personal experiences.
David, whose hometown is by the sea, said that the COVID-19 pandemic had had a very serious impact on the whole world, but at the same time, he also found another phenomenon that since the pandemic, the sea near his home had become much cleaner than before, and even small crabs that hadn’t been seen for a long time appeared. That surprised him much. It was precisely because of the COVID-19 pandemic that the travelling flow decreased and the influence of industrial production had reduced many man-made interferences and damages on the sea. Through this phenomenon, he observed, “Human beings need to give nature a rest and chance to recover.”
After that, he showed pictures of marine pollution: the coral reefs which were originally beautiful and colorful and in which fish swam, had turned into white, cold and lifeless coral graves because of the pollution of the marine environment. This is the phenomenon of coral bleaching.
In recent years, more and more extreme weather is occurring around the world, and abnormally high temperatures, drought, severe storms, tornadoes and floods are becoming increasingly frequent. Behind almost all extreme climates, global warming is the “causing trouble”. According to the data of the World Meteorological Organization, since the Industrial Revolution, the global average temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees, approaching the danger line of the Paris Agreement. On November 26th, 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations Environment Programme warned that once the temperature rose above the critical point of 1.5°C, the frequency and intensity of climate disasters would rise sharply.
Apart from the important forces of governments and society, what can ordinary Christians do in the workplace?
David said that many environmental problems were actually closely related to our greed and exploitation of the earth. He showed a video of secretly hunting sharks for shark fins, which proved the saying “the result of buying and selling is killing”. It was precisely because human beings longed to satisfy their own desires that the high price of shark fins led many people to endanger the life of a shark for its fins. And if we reduced the demand for certain meat, it could greatly improve the environment.
Finally, as for individual Christians, David called for actions immediately from all of us, and gave the following specific suggestions:
1. Support the recycling economy. Reduce the consumption of fuel and electricity, reduce the waste of food and water, and recycle plastics, metals, and paper etc.
For instance, children’s favorite toys should be made of various cartons. It cannot only save money but also help children establish the concept of environmental protection and lifestyle from an early age.
2. Adopt a low-carbon lifestyle. Have a low-carbon diet by reducing the appropriate amount of meat. Do more swimming, hiking, and play ball games outdoors.
3. Increase environmentally friendly transportation, such as walking, cycling, public transportation and carpooling.
4. For employees, they were encouraged to cook their own meals and bring lunch to work and reduce ordering take-outs, which would create a lot of garbage, especially plastic garbage.
For instance, when the pandemic began last year, he encouraged the employees of his company to make and take their own lunch to work. It was both hygienic and green. Now, for almost a year, many staff considered this method to be very good for their health and environment.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Appeals of a Christian Who Adocates Environmental Protection: 'Christians Can Do Small Things in Face of Global Warming, Climate Change'
