The Hottest Year, both Literally and for the Development vs. Environment Debate

Posted on by 施達基金會

Temperature in January has fluctuated more than ever, and we could see more short-sleeved pedestrians than before. The climate change has reached the point where 2016 was recorded as the hottest year in the history of recorded temperature since 1880.

The World Meteorological Organization, United Nation has produced similar reports that indicated a global increase in average temperature and an alarmingly high average concentration of CO2. As a result, coral bleaching, floods, heat waves, and tropical monsoons were worsened, which brought about multiple life-endangering situations in the past year. [1]

The nature’s own pace and cycle has been undermined by our overdevelopment. The CO2 we released rapidly further destabilize the climate, which in turn affect ourselves. There are still people who support rapid over-development claiming that the climate change is a hoax [2], and that people’s need should override that of our environment[3].

How should we balance between development and the environment? Particularly, how should we Christians carry out our duties to love and care for the world created by God?

Verses for Reflection:

“You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” (Psalms 8:6-8)

The Lord gave us the earth not for us to roam lawless and loveless on it, but to manage and serve everything on it per His order. Human development might be inevitable, but we should never become selfish and stop thinking about our positions in caring for the other creations of God. Practically, we could voice out our opinions on the policy making processes and choose to live simpler lives that minimize our individual damages to the earth.

Pray for the World:

  • Pray for the extreme climate that has been largely resulted in our over-development, and pray for our Lord’s forgiveness and His guidance in how we should care for the earth.
  • Pray for the policy makers that they would not excessively prioritize men over other creations of God.
  • Pray that we could live our daily lives more consciously in remembering the amazing creation of God, that we would learn how to minimize our negative affect to the earth.