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Monday, October 10, 2022

New system retrofits diesel engines to run on 90% hydrogen

by Neil Martin, University of New South Wales

Engineers from UNSW Sydney have successfully converted a diesel engine to run as a hydrogen-diesel hybrid engine—reducing CO2 emissions by more than 85% in the process.

The team, led by Professor Shawn Kook from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, spent around 18 months developing the hydrogen-diesel direct injection dual-fuel system that means existing diesel engines can run using 90% hydrogen as fuel.

The researchers say that any diesel engine used in trucks and power equipment in the transportation, agriculture and mining industries could ultimately be retrofitted to the new hybrid system in just a couple of months.

Green hydrogen, which is produced using clean renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, is much more environmentally friendly than diesel.

And in a paper published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Prof. Kook's team show that using their patented hydrogen injection system reduces CO2 emissions to just 90 g/kWh—85.9% below the amount produced by the diesel powered engine.

"This new technology significantly reduces CO2 emissions from existing diesel engines, so it could play a big part in making our carbon footprint much smaller, especially in Australia with all our mining, agriculture and other heavy industries where diesel engines are widely used," says Prof. Kook.

"We have shown that we can take those existing diesel engines and convert them into cleaner engines that burn hydrogen fuel.

"Being able to retrofit diesel engines that are already out there is much quicker than waiting for the development of completely new fuel cell systems that might not be commercially available at a larger scale for at least a decade.

"With the problem of carbon emissions and climate change, we need some more immediate solutions to deal with the issue of these many diesel engines currently in use."

High-pressure hydrogen direct injection

The UNSW team's solution to the problem maintains the original diesel injection into the engine, but adds a hydrogen fuel injection directly into the cylinder.

The collaborative research, performed with Dr. Shaun Chan and Professor Evatt Hawkes, found that specifically timed hydrogen direct injection controls the mixture condition inside the cylinder of the engine, which resolves harmful nitrogen oxide emissions that have been a major hurdle for commercialisation of hydrogen engines.

"If you just put hydrogen into the engine and let it all mix together you will get a lot of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, which is a significant cause of air pollution and acid rain," Prof. Kook says.

"But we have shown in our system if you make it stratified—that is in some areas there is more hydrogen and in others there is less hydrogen—then we can reduce the NOx emissions below that of a purely diesel engine."

Importantly, the new Hydrogen-Diesel Direct Injection Dual-Fuel System does not require extremely high purity hydrogen which must be used in alternative hydrogen fuel cell systems and is more expensive to produce.

And compared to existing diesel engines, an efficiency improvement of more than 26% has been shown in the diesel-hydrogen hybrid.

That improved efficiency is achieved by independent control of hydrogen direct injection timing, as well as diesel injection timing, enabling full control of combustion modes—premixed or mixing-controlled hydrogen combustion.

The research team hope to be able to commercialize the new system in the next 12 to 24 months and are keen to consult with prospective investors.

They say the most immediate potential use for the new technology is in industrial locations where permanent hydrogen fuel supply lines are already in place.

That includes mining sites, where studies have shown that about 30% of greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by the use of diesel engines, largely in mining vehicles and power generators.

And the Australian market for diesel-only power generators is currently estimated to be worth around $765 million.

"At mining sites, where hydrogen is piped in, we can convert the existing diesel engines that are used to generate power," says Prof. Kook.

"In terms of applications where the hydrogen fuel would need to be stored and moved around, for example in a truck engine that currently runs purely on diesel, then we would also need to implement a hydrogen storage system to be integrated into our injection system.

"I do think the general technology with regards to mobile hydrogen storage needs to be developed further because at the moment that is quite a challenge."Toyota testing hydrogen combustion engines in race cars

More information: Xinyu Liu et al, Direct injection of hydrogen main fuel and diesel pilot fuel in a retrofitted single-cylinder compression ignition engine, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.08.149

Journal information: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

Provided by University of New South Wales

Netflix’s ‘Sins of Our Mother’ is a haunting case study in spiritual psychosis

Where’s the line between spiritual awakening and a psychotic episode?

"Sins Of Our Mother" poster. Courtesy of Netflix

October 3, 2022

Jillian Chene

(RNS) — Where’s the line between spiritual awakening and a psychotic episode?

Both are triggered by many of the same physical conditions. Both inspire similar emotional responses. The primary distinction is that the first brings benefits, and the second causes harm.

But even worrying psychoses may bring meaning to a religious person, even when outsiders may think unconventional beliefs have crossed a line. The conflict is as old as Joan of Arc, but is a known phenomenon in Buddhist meditation and even yoga.

Now, Netflix examines the question in “Sins of Our Mother,” a docuseries that is both a chilling addition to the true crime genre and a detailed case study on what happens when psychosis takes on a righteous glow.

Lori Vallow, the documentary’s primary subject, is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who believes she has a spiritual relationship with God that involves regular correspondence with angels. Her pursuit of these beliefs allegedly led to the death of two adults and two of her children.

Vallow’s son recalls in “Sins of Our Mother” how his mother allowed her devotion to the church to take over their home, photos of the temple covering the walls. She came to co-host a podcast called “Feel the Fire,” in which she claimed she was receiving regular contact from Moroni, the prophet turned angel who believers say gave LDS founder Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon.

Vallow said she often didn’t sleep because she was awakened so frequently by visions.

Her then-husband, Charles Vallow, converted to Mormonism when they married, but as Vallow’s spiritual experiences intensified, Charles began to disappoint her.

“Lori really wanted a spiritual dynamo in a partner,” her former friend April Raymond says in the documentary.

Vallow met her fifth and current husband Chad Daybell in 2018 at an apocalyptic conference called “Preparing a People.” The two believed their spirits were entwined. He was the “spiritual dynamo” Vallow was looking for.

Vallow and Daybell developed a spiritual ranking system: “D” and “L” denoted the difference between a “dark” and “light” spirit, and a numerical system from one to six indicated the level of each quality.

They also believed in “zombies” who were physically alive but spiritually dead and that their imperative mission was to eradicate all zombies from the Earth. These beliefs, authorities say, played a large role in the deaths of those close to her.

“A lot of these beliefs (Vallow and Daybell) had are classic psychotic beliefs,” said Ari Brouwer, a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin who studies the overlap of spirituality, psychosis and psychedelics. “Like the idea that someone you know is an imposter and some other spirit or person is in their body.”

The year after they met, Vallow’s ex-husband Charles, who, Vallow claimed, had been possessed by an evil spirit, was shot and killed by her brother. Not long afterward, Daybell’s wife, Tammy, was attacked in her driveway and two weeks later died in her sleep.

Vallow had ranked her daughter Tylee a “4.1D” — but her adopted son J.J. a “4.2L.” After they had been officially missing for months, police found both the children’s bodies burned and buried in shallow graves outside Vallow and Daybell’s home.

Booking photos of Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Daybell. Photos courtesy of Rexburg Police Department, left, and Madison County Sheriff’s Office

It’s difficult to look back on Vallow’s fervent religiosity and accept that it was harmless. An intervention against hanging posters or even having visions of an angel might have felt like overreaction. But Brouwer said that’s probably what was required. “One of the things that struck me was some people not recognizing these signs of risk of psychosis. It was just a shame because it should have been caught much sooner,” said Brouwer.

The other unfortunate turn was Vallow’s encounter with Daybell. “If instead of meeting Chad,” said Brouwer, “she met a more laidback spiritual adviser that was like, ‘let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Make sure you get sleep. Let’s be humble. Everyone’s equal under God’s eyes. You’re special, but you’re not more special than other people.’ I don’t see her development the way it is as inevitable.”

Vallow and Daybell are currently in prison awaiting a trial scheduled for January that could be delayed after Daybell recently filed a motion to separate his trial from his wife’s. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Vallow.

Beyond a letter from its First Presidency advising LDS leaders to avoid involvement in legal proceedings, the church has offered no official comment on Vallow and Daybell’s case, nor the new series. Julie Rowe, an author who shared Daybell’s belief system and collaborated with him on some books, was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 2019.

The docuseries is not intent on blaming Lori and Chad’s religion, or people who hold apocalyptic spiritual beliefs, though it doesn’t hold back on the ideas that motivated them either. And certainly, there’s plenty in “Sins of Our Mother” to keep viewers’ attention without going into the history of spiritual visionaries or ascribing her behavior to any faith.

Nor does Brouwer think that unconventional beliefs necessarily make anyone dangerous.

“I think an important factor in Lori’s case was what I sometimes call a spiritual addiction, where someone really gets wrapped up in those experiences and how important it makes them feel,” Brouwer said. “I mean, all the people who listened to that podcast and went to those conferences at least vaguely agreed on this way of perceiving the world. That doesn’t qualify as insanity.”

"Sins Of Our Mother" poster. Courtesy of Netflix

Even Christians who are Democrats are abandoning the Social Gospel

Survey data show that church attendance, not party, is more likely to determine how Christians view the kingdom.

An unhoused man in Seattle. Photo by Steve Knutson/Unsplash/Creative Commons

October 6, 2022

Ryan Burge

(RNS) — About a decade ago, the conservative commentator and radio show host Glenn Beck told listeners to “look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can.”

In essence, Beck was telling his followers to reject a strain of Christian theology that dates back at least 100 years in the United States: the Social Gospel.

Popularized by the Rev. Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist pastor, in the early 20th century, this theology focuses on issues such as poverty, exploitation, disease and hunger as the primary action items for the church. Instead of focusing on the individual problem of sin, Rauschenbusch and other advocates of the Social Gospel believed Christians should focus on reforming institutions in the United States to make the country more equitable and fairer for all people.

Do American Christians still embrace the core principles of that doctrine? Or do they agree with Beck?

“Views of the Social Gospel Among Christian Groups” Graphic courtesy of Ryan Burge

Certain aspects of the Social Gospel still enjoy widespread approval. For instance, about 80% of Christians believe that “God instructs us to protect the poor,” and only 15% believe that “addressing social issues distracts people from achieving salvation.”

Other facets of the Social Gospel provoke more disagreement. While 61% of nonwhite evangelicals agree that “social justice is at the heart of the Gospel,” that sentiment is only shared by 36% of white evangelicals. About 3 in 5 white evangelicals — twice the rate of other Christian groups — agree with the statement “God is more concerned about individual morality than social inequalities.”

Given that white evangelicals are outliers on a number of questions related to the Social Gospel, and white evangelicals’ tendency to vote for Republicans, it seems probable that their divergence from nonevangelicals’ views on social justice is more about political partisanship than about theological tradition. The data confirms that suspicion.

“Views of the Social Gospel, by Political Partisanship” Graphic courtesy of Ryan Burge

For instance, a Christian who is Republican is twice as likely as a Christian Democrat to believe that “building the kingdom of God on earth is only about bringing people to Christ, not changing social structures.” Two thirds of Democrats who are Christians believe that “social justice is at the heart of the Gospel,” while just 36% of independents and 35% of Republicans of the faith share that belief.

Given that Democrats are more likely to embrace tenets of the Social Gospel, it would be fair to believe that they are hearing these beliefs amplified in their churches, while Republicans are hearing more discussion of personal salvation and individual responsibility.

To test that theory, I put together a data model to determine how religion interacts with political partisanship to shape people’s beliefs about the Social Gospel. This model only included respondents who identified with a religious tradition; the religiously unaffiliated “nones” were excluded. I controlled for age, income, education, gender, race and other basic demographic factors.

“God is more concerned about individual morality than social inequalities” Graphic courtesy of Ryan Burge

Clearly, Republican Christians, regardless of church attendance, are more likely to believe that individual morality is more important than societal inequalities. Church attendance only accelerates this belief, with more than half of Republicans who are weekly attenders agreeing on personal morality, compared with less than 40% of those who never attend.

Not much of a surprise. But for the Democrats, the data gets more interesting. The more that they attend church, the more likely they are to embrace a message of individual responsibility as opposed to societal sin.

If those on the left side of the political spectrum are attending churches that preach a strong version of the Social Gospel, those messages are not finding their way into the hearts and minds of the average liberal churchgoer. In fact, the data says just the opposite: The more Democrats go to church, the more they hold views on individual responsibility in common with Republicans.

That may come as a surprise to many progressive Christian communities and organizations that focus squarely on Social Gospel concerns like the Poor People’s Campaign, but there is no evidence to be found here that religious Democrats are more likely to focus on the problems that preachers like Rauschenbusch focused on during the Progressive Era.

Instead, American Christianity is being seen more and more as a vertical relationship with God as opposed to a horizontal relationship with those in the community.

Ryan Burge, author of "20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America." Courtesy photo

Ryan Burge. Courtesy photo

(Ryan Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, a pastor in the American Baptist Church and author of “The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going.” He can be reached on Twitter at @ryanburge. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Ahead of the Trend is a collaborative effort between Religion News Service and the Association of Religion Data Archives made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. See other Ahead of the Trend articles here.

ON THE SOCIAL GOSPEL IN CANADA SEE

http://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2005/10/social-credit-and-western-canadian.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-religious-roots-of-our-free.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2007/03/may-day-for-mackay.html

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Cooperative Commonwealth=Free Market

Nonreligious women of color convene to talk Christian nationalism, reproductive rights

‘It cannot all be focused on church and state separation. That’s not going to work for people of color, specifically women of color,’ said one organizer of the Women of Color Beyond Belief conference.

Women of Color Beyond Belief Conference organizers Bridgett “Bria” Crutchfield, from left, Sikivu Hutchinson and Mandisa Thomas pose together during the group’s meeting in 2019 in Chicago. Photo by Josiah Mannion, courtesy of WOCBB

September 29, 2022

Alejandra Molina

(RNS) — Dozens of nonreligious women are gathering this weekend in Chicago for “Women of Color Beyond Belief” to discuss the effects of Christian nationalism and the overturning of Roe and to showcase the voices of younger generations who are increasingly rejecting religion.

The conference, which began in 2019, comes as recent surveys show an explosion of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated — up 10 percentage points in a decade. As of 2021, nearly 3 in 10 Americans are unaffiliated (29%), compared with 19% in 2011. Many are young people: Some 35% of younger millennials are unaffiliated.

Commonly referred to as “nones” (for their “none of the above” reply to questions about their connections to faith communities), religiously unaffiliated people cover a wide range of beliefs, comprising atheists, agnostics, humanists and secularists.

To Sikivu Hutchinson, an atheist activist and a core organizer of the conference, it’s important to understand “what are the catalysts for that rejection (of organized religion) within Gen Z communities?”

Secular and atheist spaces have long been largely white and dominated by men. This leaves a lot of concerns out of the conversation, said Hutchison. She believes it’s crucial to center women of color, particularly Black and Latina voices, and to give center stage to issues such as reproductive rights and what Hutchinson regards as an assault on LGBTQ rights, critical race theory and anti-racist education.

“It cannot all be focused on church and state separation. That’s not going to work for people of color, specifically women of color,” said Hutchinson, who more than a decade ago founded Black Skeptics Los Angeles.

As data show that Black and Latin American “nones” are growing, Hutchinson said they’re trying to “debunk those stereotypes about who secular folks are.”

Presented by the LA-based Black Skeptics Group, the Atlanta-headquartered Black Nonbelievers and South LA’s Women’s Leadership Project, this year’s conference theme is “Hands off our Bodies!,” emphasizing the collective’s commitment to reproductive rights and contraception.

Among the speakers are Charis Hoard, a secular activist who will be leading a presentation on American religious extremism in public policy and society; Suandria Hall, a mental health counselor whose practice, My Choice My Power Counseling, focuses on life transitions and religious trauma; and Karina Quintanilla, who in 2020 was the first Latina elected to the City Council in Palm Desert, a Riverside County city in Southern California.

For Bridgett “Bria” Crutchfield, a main organizer of the convening, the gathering serves as a lifeline for nonreligious women in rural areas “where they don’t have outreach available to them.”

“Being able to come out and commune and congregate with like-minded women, it reaffirms that you’re not alone, because oftentimes, this is a lonely journey,” Crutchfield said.

While the number of religiously unaffiliated is on the rise, people of color in the U.S. are still more likely to be religious than white Americans. Data show that 49% of white Americans have said religion is very important in their lives, compared to 59% of Latinos and 75% of Black Americans who said the same.

Women of Color Beyond Belief logo. Courtesy image

Crutchfield, who was raised Jehovah’s Witness and later began attending an Apostolic Pentecostal church, left Christianity as an adult. She was stripped from a leadership position after questioning the church’s financial structures. She was also disturbed by how her pastor characterized a church member’s death from breast cancer as her “final healing.” Crutchfield wondered, “There’s levels to healing?” Crutchfield turned to the Bible after leaving the church but found herself disagreeing with much of the Scripture she was reading.

She sought secular spaces when she began to embrace atheism. “I had a lot to learn,” she said. She wound up creating a group for minority atheists and eventually established the Detroit-area affiliate of Black Nonbelievers.

These are the kind of life experiences that Belen Padilla, 19, a student at Scripps College in Southern California, is eager to learn more about at the conference. Padilla, a Mexican American who identifies as queer and atheist, grew up in a Catholic household and said most atheists she knows are white. Padilla is a recipient of the Black Skeptics’ scholarship fund.

Padilla recalls using Google at a young age to ask, “Is it OK to not believe in God?”

For Padilla, being queer and atheist are thought as going against her culture. “It’s very hard for people to understand where I come from,” she said.

Kaylin Nelson, 18, a student at the University of Central Florida, said getting to know others who didn’t grow up in a religious Christian household like hers “has restored my faith in humanity.” Nelson was sexually assaulted at church at a young age and said she saw “a lot of protection of abusers” as well as people “putting the blame on God.” That pushed her away.

Nelson, who also received a scholarship from Black Skeptics’ scholarship fund, is learning more about her secular identity and said that partaking in Women of Color Beyond Belief has shown her ”there’s a lot more out there.”

“It kind of inspired me, seeing that there are people who still believe in doing good, not in the name of God, but just because it’s the right thing to do,” said Nelson.

Mandisa Thomas, who wasn’t formally raised in any church, is one of them.

Thomas, the founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, said she was raised with a secular perspective and was exposed to different religions such as Christianity and Islam. She was indoctrinated into the Black conscience community and early on learned about racism and injustice.

While Thomas mostly saw herself as spiritual, not religious, she began to better understand her identity as an atheist humanist around her mid-30s.

To Thomas, a core organizer of the conference, it’s crucial, as nonreligious people of color, to openly speak about Christian nationalism and reproductive justice because they are directly impacted by these issues.

“We advocate for an evidence-based approach to what we do in life. … Our perspective is that this is the world we live in. We have to make sure it’s a better place for ourselves and for future generations,” Thomas said.

Survey: Catholics, Hispanics, young people most likely to voice climate concerns

Additionally, American Catholics were found to be five times more likely to express that climate change is a shared responsibility than their non-Catholic counterparts.

A dry riverbed due to a prolonged drought in southern Madagascar in 2016. Photo by Heidi Yanulis for Catholic Relief Services

October 5, 2022

Alejandra Molina

(RNS) — Catholics and Hispanics are among the most concerned in the U.S. about the impact of climate change, with Gen Z and millennials more likely to take collective action on the matter, according to a new survey commissioned by the international humanitarian agency Catholic Relief Services.

While a majority of Americans (81%) are very or somewhat concerned about the impact of climate change in the U.S., Hispanics (92%) were among the most worried about it, compared with Black (86%) and white (76%) respondents.

Gen Z (84%) and millennials (87%) are more likely than Gen X (76%) to voice concerns about the impact of climate change in the U.S.

When factoring in faith, more Catholics (85%) expressed concern about the effects of climate change in the U.S. than non-Catholic respondents (79%).

Additionally, American Catholics were found to be five times more likely to express that climate change is a shared responsibility than their non-Catholic counterparts — a finding that resonated with Bill O’Keefe, who is Catholic Relief Services’ executive vice president of mission, mobilization and advocacy.

“I’m not surprised by that given our church teaching about the common good, and our care for the poor, and our Holy Father’s leadership, in connecting through ‘Laudato Si’,’ the care for our environment and care for vulnerable human beings,” O’Keefe said in a virtual news conference on Tuesday (Oct. 4), when the survey’s findings were released.

“The gospel calls us to care for creation,” O’Keefe added.

Conducted online Aug. 24-30 this year, the survey included 2,009 U.S. adults. The results were analyzed in total as well as by generation, region, race/ethnicity and religious affiliation (Catholic vs. non-Catholic). About 1 in 4 survey participants (24%) described their religious affiliation as Catholic. The survey’s report did not provide a breakdown of the participants’ varying faiths, aside from Catholicism, and how that corresponded with their responses.

“I always like to help with my dad in the field to learn new things with him. Before, he only planted beans, but now he plants other things. My dad is planting various vegetables such as radishes, taro, lettuce and more. For my parents I feel a lot of appreciation because they always help me in everything. My father is very happy with the Raíces project. They support us. My dad wants a good future for our family”, says Elías Esaú García Martínez, 13 with his father Nery García Martínez, 46, observe an associated plot of corn and beans with stubble used as soil cover to conserve the moisture in the soil during the dry season, the stubble also becomes organic matter as it deteriorates in the family’s drip irrigation enabled plantation at El Ciprés, Opatoro, Honduras. “My family was going through very serious difficulties. First, the drought affected this part of the country, then a lot of climate phenomena affected our country as well. It is then when the RAÍCES project comes and exposes the program. I liked the idea because with The project we believed we could get out of underdevelopment. Before I entered the RAÍCES project with CRS, the only thing they planted was corn and beans and nothing more. But now I’m diversifying my plantation with new crops. For example. We are now planting Taro, it is a project that is not only going to generate income for families but CRS through the technicians are helping us to get a secure market niche so that the families can sell this product. Here in the plot in my plot I manage a diversification when I say diversification I talk about bananas, cassava, vegetables, fruit trees too and citrus”, says Nery.The García family participate in RAICES DRR project that is funded by USAID through the BHA (Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance) of the United States government, is implemented by Catholic Relief Services Honduras in the RAICES-DRR Project and its local partners ASOMAINCUPACO, COCEPRADII and COCEPRADIL. The

Elías Esaú García Martínez, 13, with his father, Nery García Martínez, 46, observe an associated plot of corn and beans with stubble used as soil cover to conserve the moisture in the soil during the dry season, in Opatoro, Honduras, in 2022. Photo by Oscar Leiva/Silverlight for Catholic Relief Services

Brittany Wichtendahl, a spokesperson for CRS, said the agency focused on Catholic and Hispanic demographics.

“As an organization of the U.S. Catholic Church, we were particularly interested in the perspectives of Catholics as well as Hispanics in the U.S., being the fastest growing Catholic demographic,” Wichtendahl said, adding that respondents did not know it was a Catholic-sponsored survey.

These findings come in the wake of recent international climate emergencies, including massive flooding in Pakistan that left a third of the country under water, displaced millions and killed more than 1,600 people. CRS, which operates in more than 100 countries, set up a relief fund and provided immediate cash assistance to more than 3,800 families affected by the flooding. The agency has also begun to help thousands of households get their water sources repaired.

The survey is also part of the agency’s new campaign to mobilize Catholics in the U.S. and others to support programming that helps provide farmers with drought-tolerant seeds and that creates evacuation plans in disaster-prone areas impacted by powerful storms. The agency is creating chapters and clubs in high schools, colleges and parishes. CRS is also urging Congress to provide funding for the Green Climate Fund, which underwrites major renewable energy projects.

Lheslye Perez, chief of party for CRS in Guatemala, said the country has experienced more frequent and stronger storms. Two recent tropical storms destroyed potato crops in the Guatemalan region of Chortiz. High humidity also contributed to the death of sheep and goats, which are main sources of income in the region.

She said CRS helped with food and hygiene products but fears that “this situation can and will happen again.” Perez, at the news conference, recalled a resident telling her that despite not having access to electricity or safe water, their “biggest challenge is that we have been forgotten.”

“The poorest families, the most vulnerable are the ones who pay the hardest consequences of climate change,” she said.

Overall, the CRS survey found that a majority of Americans agree immediate action is necessary to limit the impact of climate change in the U.S. (75%) and other countries (69%), and more than half (55%) feel the U.S. has a responsibility to help countries suffering from the effects of climate change. “Gen Z and millennials particularly feel this sense of responsibility to other countries,” the survey found.

Presented with a list of words that may be associated with climate change, more than three-quarters (77%) of survey participants chose heat waves, while about 2 in 3 associated climate change with drought (68%, and/or flooding (66%). About 62% cited rising sea levels, and half (49%) associated it with not enough food and water.

“Actions Americans Report Taking to Combat Climate Change” Graphic courtesy of Catholic Relief Services

According to survey findings, most Americans (85%) have taken steps to reduce the impact of climate change, the most common being that they separated trash from items that can be recycled (64%). More than half (56%) have reduced water usage, and 38% have shifted to more eco-friendly brands. About 1 in 5 say they have composted (22%) and/or supported an organization that fights climate change (19%). Fewer bought a hybrid or electric vehicle (12%) and/or participated in a march, protest or boycott (11%) to call attention to the impact of climate change.

The survey found that younger people are the most likely to take bigger or more collective steps to address climate change, with 30% of Gen Z and 25% of millennials saying they have supported an organization that fights climate change, compared with 14% of Gen X and 16% of baby boomers.

Topping motivating factors for Americans to take action against climate change are drought-induced famines (48%) and catastrophic, widespread flooding (47%), followed by
globalization (44%), according to the survey.

Two in 5 feel they would be motivated to act by more frequent and powerful storms (40%) and/or fighting for diminishing resources (39%). Nearly as many cite their faith/values (35%), while increased migration (23%) is least likely to spur Americans into action to help other countries fight the effects of climate change, the survey found.