Even the Pope Believes In Climate Change

Pope Francis wants the world's Catholics to join forces to fight climate change, according to a document leaked on Monday, and the message doesn't leave any room for confusion over what the Pope thinks about the world's habits. According to the Guardian, the Pope's draft says that humanity risks “unprecedented destruction of the ecosystem” if we don't reduce our use of natural resources. The document, which an Italian magazine published on Monday and the Vatican says is still a early draft, will give little comfort to politicians who dismiss the science behind climate change. “Humanity is called to take note of the need for changes in lifestyle and changes in methods of production and consumption to combat this warming, or at least the human causes that produce and accentuate it,” he wrote. “Numerous scientific studies indicate that the greater part of the global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases … given off above all because of human activity.” While Pope Francis hasn't been as forward-thinking in his opinions on women's rights as he is on the environment, he has no patience for the BPs and Shell Oils of the world. "We have grown up thinking that we were her owners and dominators, authorised to loot her," he wrote, according to the Guardian's report. "The violence that exists in the human heart, wounded by sin, is also manifest in the symptoms of illness that we see in the Earth, the water, the air and in living things.” The Vatican had planned to release the encyclical on Thursday, ahead of the Pope's visit to the United States in September. Perhaps U.S. leaders will decide to respond to his prodding and finally pass strong new environmental policies.