As a global family of churches, the Anglican Communion has stood alongside other faiths in prayerful solidarity and compassion with victims and survivors of the recent extreme weather in many places around the world.

In Bangladesh and India, over 1,000 people died in an outsize monsoon flood. In the Caribbean and the United States, a succession of devastating hurricanes killed hundreds of people and cost thousands more their homes and businesses. In Hong Kong and southern China, over a dozen people were killed by a powerful typhoon.

Of course, hurricanes, monsoons and other types of extreme weather are a part of life on earth for many. The trouble is that climate change is loading the dice by intensifying storms and making rain patterns less predictable.

Climate change is the human thumb on the scale, pushing us toward disaster. It is not a distant danger — it is already with us. As we continue to burn fossil fuels, its effects will only grow.