As ashen skies began soaking Central Texas last week, meteorologists from across the country and beyond met in Austin to ponder something not heard on the nightly weather forecasts: spirituality.

In a meeting room at the Austin Convention Center, about a hundred atmospheric scientists contemplated questions about the roles of science and faith in their lives. In the lively dialogue, they asked how they could help educate people of faith about global warming and the environment.

Do we check our spirituality at the door at scientific conferences? asked Timothy Miner, who led the discussion at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society.

Over four days, more than 3,000 participants attended scores of panels and town hall-style meetings addressing weighty topics one would expect atmospheric scientists to sink their teeth into. But Tuesdays session stood out like snow in Austin. Miner, a former weather officer and pilot for the Air Force, joked that it surely was one of the few times spirituality and atmospheric science were discussed in the same setting.

The American Meteorological Societys official statement on climate change is that Earths lower atmosphere, ocean and land surface are warming; the sea level is rising; and snow cover, mountain glaciers and Arctic sea ice are shrinking. It cites the dominant cause of warming since the 1950s as human activity and says that avoiding future warming will require a large, rapid reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2011, a U.N. committee called for faith-based initiatives to promote stewardship of the Earth, and it urged scientists to help educate religious communities and organizations about the future of the planet.

In an interview after Tuesdays discussion, Miner, now a commercial airline pilot and a chaplain who lives in Virginia, said scientists have a responsibility to share their knowledge with the world so that Earth can be preserved for future generations.

Its not just my personal faith to God, but my responsibilities to the greater body, to all of us together, Miner said.

In a show of hands, the vast majority of participants at the meeting said they belong to religious faiths. But some said they sometimes struggle sharing science with people of faith who have doubts about global warming or who believe that God created Earth and humans can do little to influence it.

Barry Goldsmith, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Brownsville, said hes often asked if he believes in global warming.

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At meeting in Austin, a confluence of atmospheric science and spirituality