Science and religion: think local.

Abstract

In the 19 September issue, M. McNutt's Editorial “The Pope tackles sustainability” (p. [1429][1]) and P. Dasgupta and V. Ramanathan's Policy Forum “Pursuit of the common good” (p. [1457][2]) highlighted the important role that religious communities and institutions can have in efforts to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. On a global scale, Pope Francis can uniquely engage and orient the minds of many people to the problem of climate change, but a gulf still exists between the scientific and religious communities that cannot be bridged solely by macro-scale efforts. At smaller scales and within particular religious communities, a general distrust of the scientific community predisposes people to doubt the scientific evidence for anthropogenic climate change. This predisposition must be addressed in order for some people to support the individual and collective socioeconomic changes that are necessary for mitigation. Given that this predisposition likely transcends denominational and theological lines, a unique voice is needed that can simultaneously build trust in these diverse communities and inform about the details of climate change. I contend that scientists within religious communities are positioned to be this voice. Such scientists have existing relationships with non-scientists in their religious communities that are built on direct lines of communication and trust, making them well-suited for this task. Thankfully, there are already scientists who are leading this effort and providing a model for others to do the same ([ 1 ][3]). 1. [↵][4]1. K. Hayhoe, 2. A. Farley , A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions (FaithWords, New York, 2009). [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1259742 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1259406 [3]: #ref-1 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text