17th September 2025

Researchers from Imperial College London have found that human-made global heating caused two in every three heat deaths in Europe during this year’s summer. Epidemiologists and climate scientists identified that between June and August 16,500 out of 24,400 deaths resulted from greenhouse gases exacerbating high temperatures.  “The causal chain from fossil fuel burning to rising heat and increased mortality is undeniable,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and a co-author of the report. “If we had not continued to burn fossil fuels over the last decades, most of the estimated 24,400 people in Europe wouldn’t have died this summer.” Older people were hit hardest by the extreme temperatures with 85% of the deaths among people over the age of 65, and 41% over the age of 85. Madeleine Thomson, an adaptation expert at Wellcome, a non-profit health group, who was not involved in the study, said the new data showed that “no city in Europe is immune” to deaths from extreme heat.  “If we don’t act now, the toll will rise,” she said. “We must urgently phase out fossil fuels and implement policies that protect those most at risk from increasingly deadly heatwaves.”  

Loving God, you created the world and saw that it was good, how it must hurt when we face what is happening to this earth. We cry for all whose lives are blighted by climate change and global warming.  May your Holy Spirit move among the leaders of nations and those responsible for global corporate businesses. May they see the damage and hurt that people suffer as a result of global warming. May they seek to move away from fuels that put greenhouse gases into the air and drive us towards a more sustainable future.  Help each of us to play pour part in protecting the earth.  May our children and their children be able to marvel at the wonder of your creation.  Help us to treasure the natural world and cherish all life unpon it.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

The Government of Ghana and international charity Mercy Ships have reaffirmed their partnership.  The hospital ship Global Merc ship will docked in the Port of Tema, in AUgust 2026.  The medical teams on board will deliver free specialized surgeries and provide training for healthcare professionals, advancing Ghana’s national goals for safe surgical care. This will be Mercy Ships’ fifth visit to Ghana since 1991.  The visit will build on a long history of collaboration that has provided more than 2,600 surgeries, 16,700 dental procedures, and trained 139 healthcare professionals.  

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, said: “Health is not a luxury, it is the foundation of freedom. It is the currency of our dignity. It is our greatest public good and so I am delighted to welcome Mercy Ships to Ghana next year.”  Each year, more than 2,500 volunteer professionals from over 60 countries serve on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, the Africa Mercy® and the Global Mercy™. Surgeons, dentists, nurses, health trainers, cooks, and engineers dedicate their time and skills to accelerate access to safe surgical and anaesthetic care. Mercy Ships was founded in 1978.

You can find out more about Mercy Ships here.

Loving God, you created the universe

and all that is in it.

You created human beings in your image,

gave us life

and those gifts that make each one of us unique.

When we try to think of you

our minds reach their very limits,

so we praise and thank you.

Psalm 105:1-4

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.