'Common Ground': Politicians turn to God AND science

The physicist wrote: "We are faced with the great challenge of limiting global warming to below 2°C while fostering development for the poorest ... we have the technical and economic solutions at hand to overcome the challenges we are confronted with. ... any further delay to mitigation measures may jeopardize climate stability and thus our future..." 

He added that forming "alliances," finding "common ground" and acting "together as humankind" - as well as taking on "individual responsibility and change" - is what mankind can do now to initiate the change.

"Patriarch Bartholomew," the pontiff wrote, "has drawn attention to the ethical and spiritual roots of environmental problems, which require that we look for solutions not only in technology but in a change of humanity; otherwise we would be dealing merely with symptoms."

Pope Francis continued, calling all of humanity to participate in a conversation concerning the "environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots," adding, "Any technical solution which science claims to offer will be powerless to solve the serious problems of our world if humanity loses its compass, if we lose sight of the great motivations which make it possible for us to live in harmony, to make sacrifices and to treat others well."

Science magazine editor Marcia McNutt also sided with Pope Francis, writing: "The time for debate has ended. Action is urgently needed.  ... I applaud the forthright climate statement of Pope Francis, currently our most visible champion for mitigating climate change, and lament the vacuum in political leadership in the United States. This is not the time to wait for political champions to emerge."

Regardless of whether anyone believes in science or religion, many agree that the joining of the two would align one value between the religious and the secular in an alliance that would "save the next generations from the consequences of the beyond-two-degree inferno."

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