20th May 2026

This month has seen a number of reports across the world concerning the climnate crisis. The UK's Climate Change Committee published a new report today. It recommends that the UK government government should prepare for a 2C increase of global heating by 2050, as attempts to limit temperatures to 1.5C above preindustrial levels under the Paris agreement appeared likely to fail. Heatwaves are expected to exceed 40C in all parts of the UK by 2050.  In Australia, leading researchers have warned that job cuts at the national science agency CISIRO mean Australia will no longer be able to submit climate projections to form part of global reports and will have significantly reduced its ability to forecast future damage to the country.  Similarly there have been financial cuts to climate forecasting bodies in the USA. Staffing cuts have forced The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (Noaa) National Weather Service to scale back satellites and balloon launches, key parts of the country’s data collection system. Scaled back climate programs threaten ocean buoy networks and other observation systems, experts say. Research into effects of the climate crisis on earth’s systems is also being reduced, along with funding for researchers who analyse data and identify new sources. The football world cup finals, to be held later this year, is on track to be the “most polluting” World Cup ever. Total greenhouse gas emissions wil be around twice the historical average. Scientists conservatively project that the tournament will generate around 9m tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

Loving God, you have given us a wonderful world, that provides all we need.  You have placed us in a wonderful world that amazes us with its beauty and the science that connects ocean currents, wind systems, moon cycles, and local ecosystems.  Yet we have not been good stewards of creation.  We have abused the work of your hand and treated it with disrespect. We know that damage we are doing and what is required to prevent global temperatures ever rising. We have cared so little about the world that we turn a blind eye.  Loving God forgive us.  Move among the leaders of nations and global corporations and direct them to take the climate crisis seriously.  Help us all to challenge those in positions of power to address global warming, to move away from fuels that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Help us, Lord, to treasure the natural world and cherish all life upon it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Theogette is 50 years old, she has three children and lives in a remote part of northern Madagascar.  For the past ten years she has lived with a slow-growing benign tumour in her jaw which gradually prevented her from eating and affected her appearance, the function of her speech, communication, and breathing. She was abandoned by her husband and was shunned by her community, as the tumour, which began after a tooth removal, grew along her jawline. Then, Theogette was put in touch with Mercy Ships through her nephew Ronaldo, who is a medical student.  She travelled hundreds of miles to the hospital ship, Africa Mercy, to be assessed by surgeons. There the doctors warned that without complex surgery, she would face a slow, suffocating death.  The surgeons on the ship performed an operation to help Theogette. After the surgery, a clinical supervisor at Mercy Ships, Ali Herbert, said: “There was this incredible moment when Theogette looked in the mirror and put her hand up to her face. Then she realised the tumour wasn’t there any more and her hand could move much closer to her face again.” In Madagascar, only 20 per cent of the population has access to surgery as it is mostly unaffordable. Mercy Ships has been sending hospital ships on missions to Madagascar since 1996 to help desperate people.

Find out more about Mercy ships here.

Loving God, I give you thanks and praise. 

I love you with all my heart. 

You have created me and given me life. 

You have placed me in your wonderful world. 

You give me all I need for life on earth

and life beyond death.

Praise and adoration be to you,

wonderful, marvellous, eternal God. 

Amen.