Earth Day is this coming Saturday. I thought this would be a good time to go through some common arguments against the existence of climate change and debunk them. Climate change is real, and those who do not believe that it is are simply denying science.
Argument #1: Scientists and corporations who are pushing the climate change agenda are being paid by corporations to do so!
Wrong. They are funded for research, but they are not paid to say that climate change is real. However, scientists and politicians who deny climate change are funded by special interest groups. One of the most outspoken climate change deniers is Dr. Roy Spencer, a professor at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Guess what? In 2015, a report came out that Peabody Energy, one of the world's largest coal companies, paid Spencer at least $4,000 to testify against climate change at a hearing in Minnesota. Do you think $4,000 is an insignificant amount of money? Well, then let's turn to the Koch Brothers. Since 1997, the Koch Brothers have paid at least $100,343,292 to 84 different climate change denying groups. How does it make sense to say that climate scientists are being paid to promote fighting climate change when it is the climate change deniers getting paid the big bucks?
Argument #2: The climate has always been changing, even when humans were not around. How are humans the main contributor now?
It is true that the climate has always been changing. When CO2 levels decrease, the Earth cools. When CO2 levels increase, the Earth warms. However, climate change has always been a reaction to whatever is happening on Earth. When something on Earth happens that causes an increase in CO2 emissions, the Earth will warm in response. Currently, humans are the main cause — by far — of CO2 emissions. This is why the climate is currently warming. Climate change is directly related to greenhouse gas emissions, and we are currently putting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Saying that climate change has always happened and that humans are not the cause separates humans from nature. Before humans, other things emitted CO2. Now, humans do.
Argument #3: The Earth is not even warming! It snowed today!
The fact that people question temperature records is beyond me. Just look at them. 2016 was the hottest year on record. It is true that not every year is hotter than the last. But you cannot look at it that way. You have to look at it decade to decade. The 2000s were much hotter than the 1990s, and the 2010s are much hotter than the 2000s. Just like every point in any scientific graph is not going to fit perfectly on the trend line, not every year will be consistently hotter than the last. It is also important to note that climate change is different than temperature change. Climate change includes rising sea levels (proven), the melting of ice sheets (proven), more flooding (proven), and so on. Not just temperature.
Argument #4: Scientists are concerned about a rise in temperature of only 2 degrees celsius. 2 degrees is nothing!
False. The last ice age that happened was a result of an average temperature of only 2 degrees celsius cooler than normal.
Argument #5: Even if climate change is an issue, we have more important things to worry about like economic growth.
Yes, there are other important issues that we need to address. But guess what? These problems will only be amplified if we do nothing about climate change. Rising sea levels will decimate masses of land, causing displacement and more poverty. Lower crop yields will increase hunger and wars on food. The drying of rivers will cause thirst, farming issues, and mass disagreements on water rights. Economic growth will not matter if it all shatters as climate change becomes more and more problematic.
I could go on. Climate change is an issue. In fact, it is the number one national security threat in the world. Denying it just does not make sense, and it honestly concerns me that so many people are unwilling to accept basic fact.
