Over the years, there have been many people – even scientists – refuting the fact that climate change is real. With the widespread use of technology in the 21st century, it's easy for incorrect information to be circulated on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
We're here today to debunk several of these well-known myths about climate change, global warming, and rising CO2 levels.
MYTH 1 – THE CLIMATE AND CO2 LEVELS ARE ALWAYS CHANGING, SO IT ISN'T A BIG DEAL
Okay, so, this one is not entirely wrong. However, this myth can be easily confused if posted on someone's Facebook wall without context.
Yes, it's true that climate is constantly changing. Richard Lindzen, writing for the Quadrant, states: "Ice ages have occurred in a hundred thousand year cycle for the last 700 thousand years, and there have been previous periods that appear to have been warmer than the present despite CO2 levels being lower than they are now."
Most of these climate changes were caused by greenhouse gases. For example, when there was a lack of greenhouse gases, the climate became colder, and when there was an increase, the climate became warmer. (Zeebe)Sound familiar? But here's the thing – while it's true that Earth has had ice ages and periods of heat and drought, these climate changes have almost always occurred slowly and naturally.
However, today, humans are emitting larger quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere at a rate that's never been seen before. In the past, when large quantities of CO2 were emitted into the atmosphere, there were destructive consequences for life on Earth. For example, increased CO2 levels contributed to the reason behind the mass extinction at the end of the Triassic and Permian era. (Lee)
MYTH 2 – SCIENTISTS DON'T AGREE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING, SO IT MUSTN'T BE REAL
A common misconception that many people have is that scientists don't agree on the factuality of climate change. And who's more qualified to talk about this issue than scientists? If they can't agree, it means that climate change can't be real (at least not entirely real)...right?
In fact, while there are a few scientists who claim climate change is a myth, the vast majority of scientists support the statement that climate change is real and that humans are causing it.
There have been numerous studies done by researchers and analysts on scientific papers to see what scientists make of climate change. Notable examples of this include:
- Naomi Oreskes, a historian, examined 900+ scientific research papers on climate change and global warming in 2004. Not one of the examined papers disputed the claim that humans were the main causal factor behind climate change and global warming.
- Peter Doran and Maggie Zimmermann surveyed a group of Earth scientists in 2009. They found that 97% of the group agreed that humans were causing climate change and global warming.
- A group of eight researchers began analyzing over 20 years of research of great scientists on climate change in 2013. Similar to Doran and Zimmermann's results, 97% of the research agreed that humans were causing global warming.
Thus, based on these studies (and many more), we can conclude that yes, scientists in fact do agree on the idea of climate change and global warming, and that humans are causing it.
MYTH 3 – GLOBAL WARMING IS CAUSED BY THE SUN, NOT HUMANS
In hindsight, it's easy to see why some people would believe this myth. It makes sense, at least on the surface, that if the Earth grows warmer, it must be the cause of the Sun as it's the most obvious source of the Earth's heat.
However, the sun is definitely not the cause of global warming, and here's why.
If the sun was the reason behind global warming, then scientists would expect to observe specific patterns of warming and cooling in the climate. For example, solar activity would spike the summer, making summers much warmer, much faster. During winters, the lack of solar activity would cause them to warm slower than summers. However, we're seeing the opposite reaction. Winters are warming quickly, and the poles are also heating up.
Additionally, according to Earth's recent temperature readings by NASA, the top of Earth's stratosphere is cooling, while the lower atmosphere is rapidly warming. If the sun was truly the cause of global warming, then scientists would expect to see "hot spots" in the stratosphere.
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Works Cited:
Burkart, Karl, and Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. "Top 6 Climate Myths." Before the Flood, 21 Oct. 2016, www.beforetheflood.com/explore/the-deniers/top-climate-myths/.
Cook, John, et al. "Quantifying the Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literature." IOP Science , 15 May 2013, iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024024/meta.
Lee, Howard. "Climate Science Glossary." Skeptical Science, 2 Apr. 2014, skepticalscience.com/Lee-commentary-on-Burgess-et-al-PNAS-Permian-Dating.html.
Lindzen, Richard S. "Resisting Climate Hysteria." - Quadrant Online, 26 July 2009, quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2009/07/resisting-climate-hysteria/
M, Larry. "Climate Science Glossary." Skeptical Science, July 2015, www.skepticalscience.com/solar-activity-sunspots-global-warming.htm.
Zeebe, Richard E. "History of Seawater Carbonate Chemistry, Atmospheric CO2, and Ocean Acidification." History of Seawater Carbonate Chemistry, Atmospheric CO2, and Ocean Acidification | Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 3 Jan. 2012, www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-earth-042711-105521.
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RISE: Climate Change, Global Warming, and Rising CO2 Levels
Non-FictionThe temperatures are rising. Earth is becoming warmer and warmer. Carbon dioxide levels are only going up. This isn't fake news. This isn't a hoax. This is real. And it's time to do something about it.
