Global warming deniers rely on climate change myths in their damaging attempts to protect industrial and corporate interests.
It’s April Fool’s Day today, which is why Living Life Natural Blog is taking a look at five of these myths and helping to show climate change skeptics for the fools that they are. Last month, we heard the shocking revelation that Florida Department for Environmental Protection had banned employees from using the terms climate change and ‘global warming. When the resistance to hard science goes right to the top, we have to show that we aren’t as gullible as the climate skeptics need us to be.
It’s Cold Outside, So the World Isn’t Getting Warmer.
As April arrives, most of us are thawing out after a long, cold winter. Perhaps it’s difficult to imagine the world growing warmer when there’s so much snow on the ground, but “climate change” explains long-term trends, not a description of today’s weather. So far, global temperatures have increased by 0.8C. That might seem like a tiny increase, but glaciers and arctic ice are already in decline. The effect of a 4C temperature increase by the end of the century would be a catastrophic sea-level rise of 7 metres. Fortunately, such a scenario can be averted, but we need to take action now.
There’s No Consensus Among Scientists
An enduring climate change myth is that the evidence is disputed. It is no longer possible to claim that scientists disagree on the question of climate change. On the contrary, 97% of climate scientists agree that human activity is responsible for rising global temperatures. The science is sound and extensive, and fabricated quibbles in the scientific community are misleading.
Climate Change Is Not New, So We Aren’t to Blame.
Skeptics might say that the earth’s temperature has constantly changed throughout history, and they are not wrong. But to suggest that this absolves humans of responsibility for the current changes is terrible and downright dangerous. In fact, climate changes in the past demonstrate the atmosphere’s sensitivity to carbon dioxide and provide more evidence for the man-made impact of global warming.
Plants and Animals Will Adapt to the Changes
Plants and animals continually evolve to adapt to their environment. But this is a slow process, and climate change is happening too fast. For example, the worrying global decline in bees, essential to ecosystems because of their role in pollination, has recently been the subject of many studies. It’s now well known that fertilizers containing neonicotinoids have contributed to declining bee populations, and new research suggests that climate change may also be to blame.
It’s Not a Problem
This is an insidious climate change myth in which some people have tried to suggest that global warming and climate change might be good for us, with increased agricultural production in Greenland. However, scientists have repeatedly warned that the costs vastly outweigh any benefits.
These climate change myths are already looking as absurd as the most outrageous hoaxes. In a spectacular April Fool’s Day prank in 1957, BBC’s Panorama had people fooled that spaghetti grows on trees; let’s hope we don’t look so foolish in 50 years.
Join the conversation and demand change. Together we can protect our home.
