Pope Francis this week is going to come out for changes in lifestyles and energy consumption to avert the “unprecedented destruction of the ecosystem” before the end of this century, He will warn that failure to act would have “grave consequences for all of us.”

Pretty severe verbiage.  It all comes from a draft document leaked to the Italian press and published today.  The pontiff will make his environmental encyclical on Thursday, directing it to “every person who inhabits this planet”. (This is a big deal; the encyclical is one of the most formal statements the pope can make about Catholic doctrine, and it’s the first of his papacy.)

Among other things he says in the draft:

“Humanity is called to take note of the need for changes in lifestyle and changes in methods of production and consumption to combat this warming, or at least the human causes that produce and accentuate it.”

and

“Numerous scientific studies indicate that the greater part of the global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases…given off above all because of human activity.”

The pope will also single out those obstructing solutions. In an apparent reference to climate-change deniers:

“The attitudes that stand in the way of a solution, even among believers, range from negation of the problem, to indifference, to convenient resignation or blind faith in technical solutions.”