LUBBOCK, Texas, Nov. 6, 2009 – Dissecting climate change fact from fiction is at the heart of the new book, "A Climate For Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions" (FaithWords, October 2009), by Canadian climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley, pastor of Ecclesia Church. Released Oct. 29, the book offers a unique and practical perspective on this fiercely debated issue, delving into the very real possibility of how changes to the earth’s temperature could affect life on this planet.

Global warming is one of the hottest scientific and political issues today, and yet, we all find ourselves asking:

• It’s freezing outside – where’s global warming now?
• Climate is always changing – how do we know this isn’t just a cycle?
• Why isn’t climate change a good thing for Canada? We could all do with some warmer weather!

Married team Hayhoe, a geoscience professor at Texas Tech University and Nobel Peace Prize-winning U.N. panel expert, and Farley, pastor and author, have the perfect mix of backgrounds and expertise to lay out the case for global warming. In describing the reasons why believers and non-believers alike should take action, the authors address common objections such as, “isn’t carbon dioxide a good thing?” and “is the sun responsible for most of our warming?”

In "A Climate for Change", Hayhoe and Farley write, “As today’s generation, the choice is ours: Will we continue to rely exclusively on coal and oil as our primary sources of energy? Or will we take advantage of our abundant natural resources and the entrepreneurial spirit to develop innovative ways to create, store, and use energy? Together, we can look for ways that create economic opportunities here at home, ensure a clean future for our children – and, most of all, take loving care of this one-of-a-kind planet, uniquely designed for life.”

Intense weather, heat waves, droughts, rising sea-levels, famine and severe storms are all possible byproducts of a warming planet, with devastating consequences. According to Hayhoe and Farley, “those with fewer resources and those who live in more fragile circumstances are most vulnerable, as climate change threatens their homes, their livelihoods, and even in some cases their very lives.”

While the Bible doesn’t dictate how Christians and other people of faith should respond to global warming, it does give an indication of how others should be treated.

“‘Love God, love others, and remember the poor.’ This was the unwavering mandate of the early church more than 2,000 years ago. And this is our solidly biblical motivation for caring about climate change today and how it is already affecting real people,” write the authors.

Hayhoe and Farley argue that as good neighbors, the faith community should be the first to take action on climate change. Given the effects the documented rise in global temperatures is already having on our world, it is important to reduce the effects we are having on our world now, before it is too late to prevent much more severe impacts.

Hayhoe and Farley offer common sense ways each person can lower their carbon footprint – a person’s day-to-day impact on the environment – including:

• Changing out light bulbs for fluorescent bulbs (CFL). If every Canadian household replaced just one traditional bulb with a CFL, the result in reduction of electricity use would be equivalent to taking nearly 100,000 cars off the road.
• Turn off your computer and TV at night. If Canadians would set their personal computers to automatically turn off when they weren’t being used, anywhere from $200 million to $500 million could be saved each year.
• Wash your clothes in cold water and try to hang at least half your clothes to dry. This could save each household an average of $100 per year, and add up to over $1 billion each year across Canada.

Such sensible tips show that if each person does their part, it is possible to make a start on curbing climate change and preventing the worst of its impacts.

"A Climate for Change" (FaithWords, ISBN: 978-0-446-54956-1) released nationwide on Oct. 29. For additional information, visit www.climateforchangethebook.com.

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