Faith leaders call out climate lies

⛪️ Good news: In the U.K., over 100 church leaders are calling out climate misinformation, making the moral case for why it causes real harm and delays action.

🐍 Not so good news: Climate change is shifting where species live—and in the case of venomous snakes, a new global study finds rising temperatures could increase the likelihood of dangerous encounters for millions.

🌱 What you can do: In the Netherlands, nearly 13M pavement tiles have been replaced with plants through a nationwide “tile flipping” challenge that's cooling neighborhoods, reducing flood risk, and restoring habitat.

Thank you to Anne Cloud with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Voice Over for the Planet⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for narrating this edition of Talking Climate. 

Music by Bradley Myer.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.talkingclimate.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Talking Climate with Catherine Hahoe. Each episode, we explore how climate change is affecting the people, places, and things we love, and what we can do to make a difference. From science to solutions and stories that inspire, you're in the right place for real talk about real change. This week we're talking about faith leaders confronting misinformation, snake risks on the rise, and a competition to cool the Netherlands. Let's dive in. Good news. Studies show that misinformation about climate change, especially when amplified by news outlets and trusted voices, has real and dangerous consequences. It delays action and worsens impacts, and Christian communities are often specifically targeted by these types of disinformation campaigns. That is why it is so important that more than 100 UK church leaders, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury, recently signed an open letter calling out GB News for spreading climate misinformation. They make it clear that false climate narratives aren't just a difference of opinion, they're a matter of public harm. I've written before about how the vast majority of Christian leaders agree that climate change is real, but they just aren't talking about it enough. Why does that matter? Because revealing the moral implications of fossil fuels has been identified by scientists as a key societal tipping point that, when recognized by enough people, can rapidly tip the scales in the direction of climate action. And who better to make this argument than religious leaders? Initiatives like this open letter are key to activating this tipping point. They help people connect what they care about and why climate action matters, giving them the clarity and confidence to speak up themselves. Not so good news. I've written before about how climate change is already pushing some species past their limits, like amphibians, which can't tolerate higher temperatures and often can't move to cooler places fast enough. In contrast, many snakes can move, and they are. Venomous snake bites are already a major but often overlooked public health issue. They kill an estimated 138,000 people and cause hundreds of thousands of disabilities every year, primarily in vulnerable communities. As the climate warms, venomous snakes are being pushed out of their current habitats and into places where more people live. A new global study finds that rising temperatures will drive many species away from arid interiors and toward densely populated coastlines. This will increase the risk of dangerous encounters. Specifically, researchers project that hundreds of snake species will move toward higher latitudes and more heavily populated regions in the coming decades, bringing them into closer contact with millions more people. What you can do. Across the Netherlands, people are taking climate action into their own hands, literally pulling it up from the ground. It's called NK Tegelwippen, or National Tile Flipping Competition, a light-hearted nationwide effort where cities and neighbors compete to remove concrete slabs from yards, sidewalks, and public spaces and replace them with plants. So far, nearly 13 million tiles have been removed. That's the equivalent of hundreds of soccer fields worth of restored ground. And participants say the impact is immediate. In one Rotterdam neighborhood, residents transformed an entire stretch of sidewalk in a single day, turning a hot, flood-prone street into a cooler, greener space filled with flowers. As climate change brings heavier rainfall and more intense heat, these kinds of small changes can make a real difference. When pavement is replaced with soil and plants, temperatures drop, rainwater can soak in, and it creates habitat for bees, birds, and insects. What stands out about this effort isn't just the scale, it's how accessible it is. If you have pavement, tile, or brick outside your home, consider removing a strip and planting something in its place. For shared or public spaces, policies vary, but your city's public works or planning department can usually tell you what's allowed. This movement shows how quickly small practical changes can add up. It's a great reminder of how climate solutions can start at your home, and when you talk about it with friends, family, and neighbors, they can spread.ca. Until next time, keep talking climate.