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TechnoratiI don’t think the United States has gotten enough credit for the fact that we have actually planted a lot of forests. There are now more forests covering the United States than before “white men” showed up, so in that sense the United States has contributed to the lessening of the climate warming because now we got more trees absorbing carbon dioxide. In one sense, that helps counter all the fossil fuel burnings that we are doing.
CP: What are some suggestions you have for reducing global warming?
Ross: A better understanding of the natural processes that are at work. We don’t fully comprehend the orbital effects on the climate. Scientists are now coming to recognize that this is probably the biggest factor governing climate change.
We need a better understanding of what human activities do and not just the warming effects but the cooling effects too.
We need to develop a plan that takes into account all these factors rather than just emphasizing the one and not dealing with the others.
And we need to recognize that no matter what we do, the ice age is going to hit us. I mean eventually we are going to have a serious cooling problem and in one sense human activities have delayed the onset of the next ice age. But we need to recognize that there is no way we can sustain a perfectly benign climate forever; it has always been temporary and will continue to be temporary.
CP: What do humans do to cause a cooling effect?
Ross: Aerosol production blocks out the light of the sun. Also what we do in the Artic has a huge effect because the Artic has a long season where there is snow and ice on the ground and the kind of plants that inhabit the Artic can do a lot to reflect or absorb light from outer space.
There is a recent research paper that documents that the color of Artic vegetations has a huge impact on adjusting the climate.
So paying more attention to that and recognizing there are a lot of little things we can do without expenditure of money that can make a huge difference.
CP: Do you have any further comments?
Ross: I think a measure of humility is necessary here to realize we are not as smart as God and He understands the whole issue. I think that there is a tendency in our human context to simplify the problem and not realize how delicately balance everything is.
A lot of research we do here at Reasons to Believe examines how exquisitely designed our planet and our solar system is to make possible, for a short period of time, a high-technology global human civilization. We need to appreciate that that level of fine-tuning is so extraordinary that it can’t be attributed to natural causation; it has got to be credited to the supernatural, super-intelligent design of the God of the Bible.
We also need to realize that there a reason why God wanted us to have a global high-technology civilization and that was to quickly fulfill the Great Commission. So I say to believers, let’s take advantage of these benign conditions that God has given us, recognize that God has given it to us, and fulfill the purpose that He has given us to do.
