World renowned climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe visited St. George’s Cathedral to present “Climate Change: Facts, Fiction and Faith,” an overview of the effects of human activity on the climate and how this problem relates to values and religion.

In an attempt to close, or lessen, the rift between Christian-conservative values and environmentalism, Hayhoe presents her scientific findings and religious faith on an annual basis, emphasizing leaving political leanings behind and the possibility of a more holistic approach.

“What I do specifically is study what climate change means to us right here and now in the places where we live,” Hayhoe said. “The biggest thing we’re seeing today is that climate change is already affecting us and, depending on the choices we make today, we’re going to see very different futures.”

Initially hailing from Toronto, Hayhoe, a devout Christian and atmospheric scientist, now lives and works in Texas, teaching at Texas Tech University. In 2012, she was named one of Christianity Today’s 50 women to watch, and some of her findings have been presented to Congress.

Over the past few years, deemed a climate change evangelist, Hayhoe has been communicating to the Christian demographic that climate change is a very real problem.

“I’m from a community where the vast majority of people do not think climate change is real,” she said. “It’s not that Christians are biased, it’s that very conservative people are.”

People have become more politically polarized during the past 20 years in the U.S., and environmentalism has turned into a crisis of identity, she said.

“We’ve been told in the States we can’t be who we are and think that climate change is real,” she said, “so my main message to people is that being a Christian and conservative is entirely compatible with caring about climate change and the environment.”

Her research encompasses assessing the impacts of climate change on a local and regional scale. She works in tandem with cities, engineers, states and federal agencies to better prepare for a warming planet, emphasizing the importance of choice and the consequences to follow.

“I study how we can prepare for a changing climate depending on the choices we make,” said Hayhoe, “because until we know the consequences of our choices, we’re aren’t going to know when to do something different.”

To Hayhoe, science can only go so far to influence choice.

“In the case of the climate, science can tell us it’s changing, why it’s changing, and tell us that it’s us,” she said. “It can tell us what our world would will look like if we continue to depend on fossil fuels for our energy. But that’s where science ends, because it can’t tell us what’s the right choice to make, which policy to use — it can’t give us the motivation to want to change. That’s where our values come in, and, for many of us, our values come from our faith.”

Hayhoe believes the crux of the matter is integrating the environment comprehensively into all policies and planning.

“In west Texas, there are a lot of straight roads,” she said, “so straight you could literally drive down the road looking in your rear-view mirror and you’d stay on the road. That’s the way we’ve been operating as a society — driving down the road, looking behind us.”

The solution to this, according to Hayhoe, is to anticipate the bend in the road, not follow the same trajectory and entrenched patterns of behaviour and belief.

“Depending on the choices we make today — how much coal, natural gas, oil we use and how much more carbon we put into the atmosphere — that curve in the road is going to get steeper and steeper,” she said. “At some point, it’s going to get harder to stay on the road.”

Hayhoe believes people have an inherent capacity to understand, appreciate and value the environment, but that some need to connect the dots.

“My main hope is to change people’s minds,” she said. “Climate change isn’t simply another item on our list, it’s already affecting the things we care about.”