Climate Deniers to Pope Francis: ‘There Is No Global Warming Crisis’

As Pope Francis prepares a historic document to make environmental issues a priority for Catholics, a group of climate-change deniers is trying to convince the pontiff this week that global warming is nothing to worry about. The Heartland Institute - a Chicago-based conservative think tank that has been attempting to discredit widely accepted climate science and prevent regulations to cut greenhouse gas emissions - says it wants to “inform Pope Francis of the truth about climate science.” This comes even as climate scientists in Zurich revealed a study showing that global warming is to blame for most extreme hot days and almost a fifth of heavy downpours, according to a scientific study on Monday that gives new evidence of how rising man-made greenhouse gases are skewing the weather.

Humans are not causing a climate crisis on God’s green Earth - in fact, they are fulfilling their biblical duty to protect and use it for the benefit of humanity.

Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute

The Heartland Institute’s gripe with the pope might be emblematic of the rift that’s opened between Pope Francis and some conservatives over hot-button issues in the culture wars. Last year was the warmest since records began in the 19th century, according to the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization. Heavy flooding hit countries including Serbia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Morocco and Brazil.

Already today 75 percent of the moderate hot extremes and about 18 percent of the moderate precipitation extremes occurring worldwide are attributable to warming.

Climate scientists at the Swiss university ETH Zurich

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