The world is on a path toward record-breaking heat and ever more dangerous climate extremes. Scientists are sounding the alarm that we may soon pass the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold set by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement—and perhaps even the more catastrophic 2-degree mark. But beyond the data and dire projections lies a spiritual challenge: how should we, as Catholics, respond?
We are called to care for creation because it is a gift from God. The Earth is not simply a backdrop to human activity—it is part of the sacred order God called “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Pope Francis has been clear in Laudato Si’ that ecological degradation and global warming are not only environmental crises but moral and spiritual ones as well. “We are not God,” he wrote, “and the Earth was here before us and has been given to us” (Laudato Si’, 67).
A five-year climate forecast released by the World Meteorological Organization and the UK Met Office now says there is an 80% chance the Earth will break another annual temperature record by 2030 and a 70% chance that the next five years as a whole will average above the 1.5°C limit (according to the WMO report, May 2025). These forecasts are based on more than 200 computer simulations by 10 global climate centers.
“This translates in real life to a higher chance of extreme weather: stronger hurricanes, stronger precipitation, droughts,” said Cornell climate scientist Natalie Mahowald. “Higher global mean temperatures translates to more lives lost.”
The moral consequences of this reality are staggering. From the rising death toll of heatwaves to the destruction of homes by fire and flood, it is the poor—those least responsible for climate change—who suffer the most. Catholic social teaching compels us to protect human dignity, especially that of the vulnerable. Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, warned that every additional tenth of a degree leads to “higher frequency and more extreme events” like droughts, floods, fires, and hurricanes—many intensified by human actions.
The Church must act not just through words but through witness. Outreach workers, like Ricky Leath in Miami, are already responding by distributing water and supplies to homeless communities overwhelmed by heat (AP, May 2024). But we must do more: parishes can green their buildings, Catholics can make more sustainable choices, and all of us can advocate for climate justice rooted in our faith.
Scientist Adam Scaife of the UK Met Office called the creeping approach of 2°C warming “shocking,” noting that the once unthinkable is now within reach. But as people of hope, we believe that it is not too late. Pope Francis reminds us, “Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves” (Laudato Si’, 205).
As the Earth heats up, our response must be just as fervent. Our faith tells us that creation groans, waiting not for destruction but for redemption (Romans 8:22). Let us be signs of that redemption—through prayer, through action, and through care for our common home.
