Cornwall Alliance

For the Stewardship of Creation

  • Home
  • About
    • Listen To Our Podcast “Created to Reign!”
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • What Drives Us
    • Our History in Highlights
    • Cornwall Alliance Statement of Faith
  • Landmark Documents
  • Issues
  • Blog
  • Media
    • Press Releases
  • Shop
    • Books
    • DVDs
  • Contact
    • Challenging “Net-Zero”: Conquering Poverty While Stewarding the Earth in the Age of Climate Change
    • Summer Essay Contest!
    • Request a Talk Show Guest
    • Request Opinion Columns
    • Q&A Form
    • Request A Speaker
  • Donate
  • Get Our Newest Book: Climate and Energy: The Case for Realism

Climate Change and the Christian Faith

by David Legates

November 23, 2017

Professor Katharine Hayhoe spoke on “Climate and Faith in the Public Arena” in her John Stott London Lecture November 16. Like Dr. Hayhoe, I’m a climate scientist; like her, I’m a Christian; like her, I care about my neighbors and want to protect them from harm; and like her, and I’m committed to stewardship of God’s wonderful creation.

Nonetheless, for these very reasons I cannot help questioning some of what she has said about climate change.

In announcing the lecture, A Rocha International’s Reverend Dave Bookless said, “Climate change is constantly in the global news, with increasingly extreme weather events displacing communities and causing destruction.” Those words reflect Dr. Hayhoe’s.

Tropical storm and hurricane frequency.

In the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Dr. Hayhoe stated on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria that “climate change is amping up heat waves, wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes” and that we should expect to see more intense hurricanes like Harvey and Irma.

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has indeed been very active, with six major hurricanes — two making landfall in the United States — but contrary to common claims, it was far from unprecedented.

Cyclone energy.

Indeed, extreme climate events are becoming neither more intense nor more frequent. Diagnostic tools that chart the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones globally and regionally — such as their number and the energy associated with them — show a cyclic pattern to hurricane activity but no long-term trend.

When Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Houston, it ended a record 4,323 days without a major hurricane (category 3–5) landfall in the United States. Fourteen category 4 or 5 hurricanes made landfall in the United States in the 44-year period between 1926 and 1969, but only four in the 48 years since.

Contrary to Dr. Hayhoe’s implicit assumption that rising global average temperature causes more and stronger hurricanes, colder periods in the historical climate record for New England and South Carolina show more frequent hurricane landfalls.

And while the North Atlantic basin was active this year, premier weathercaster Joe Bastardi of WeatherBell Analytics commented that he could not remember seeing the North Pacific without any tropical cyclone activity in the height of the hurricane (typhoon) season (i.e., mid-September), as it was this year.

In short, no upward trend currently exists in the climate record of hurricane activity in either frequency or intensity….

Continue reading on The Christian Post.

Dated: November 23, 2017

Tagged With: Christian, Christianity, Climate Scientist, Creation Care, David Legates, Energy, Environment, John Stott London Lecture, Katharine Hayhoe
Filed Under: Bridging Humanity and the Environment, Climate & Energy, Religion & Ethics

About David Legates

Dr. Legates, Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation's Director of Research and Education, is a retired Professor of Climatology at the University of Delaware, former Delaware State Climatologist, and author of numerous peer-reviewed articles on meteorology, climate change, and human influence on climate.

Comments

  1. Brit says

    December 1, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    Thank you, I hope to see more articles like this one.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Listen To Our Podcast


Available to listen on these platforms:

Spotify
Amazon Music
Apple Podcast
Google Podcast
Stitcher

Future Speaking Engagements

May 23, 2025 – Grand Rapids, MI

GR.Church, 4525 Stauffer Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, MI 49508

Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, Cornwall Alliance President, and Steve Goreham, Cornwall Alliance Board Member, will hold a symposium on Sustainable Energy, Climate Change, and the costs to YOUR life.  For tickets and more information, click HERE.

June 18-21, 2025–Dallas, TX

Cornwall Alliance will be a host of the Association of Classical Christian Schools’ (ACCS) annual Repairing the Ruins conference in Dallas, TX, and will have an exhibit booth.

Details and registration can be found HERE.

September 19-20–Arlington, VA

Dr Beisner will represent the Cornwall Alliance at the fall meeting of the Philadelphia Society and will have a literature table.

Attendance is for Society members and invited guests only. To inquire about an invitation, email Dr. Cal Beisner: Calvin@cornwallalliance.org.

September 26-27– Lynchburg, VA

Dr. Beisner will be speaking at the Christian Education Initiative Annual Summit, “Advancing Christ’s Kingdom Through Biblical Worldview Education.” 

Details and registration can be found HERE.

Are Science & Religion in Conflict?

Join Our Email List

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Recent Stewards Blog Posts

  • Traditional Media Turn Complex Science Into Impending Catastrophe
  • Why the Environmental Movement (Deep Ecology) and Socialism Are No Substitute for the Great Commission
  • Trump’s Example to the World: Cull Activists to Achieve Energy Abundance
  • Shapiro ‘Price Cap’ Could Hike Electricity Bills
  • Next Year, Let’s Have People Day, Not Earth Day

Top 40 Global Warming Blog by Feedspot

Search

Listen to Our Podcast

Available to listen on these platforms:

Spotify
Amazon Music
Apple Podcast
Google Podcast
Stitcher



Copyright © 2025 · Cornwall Alliance · 875 W. Poplar Avenue Suite 23-284, Collierville, TN 38017 · Phone: (423) 500-3009

Designed by Ingenious Geeks & John A. Peck · Log in