CLIMATE CHANGE – A MYTH OR REALITY

CLIMATE CHANGE – A MYTH OR REALITY

Climate change is one of the most discussed issues in modern times. Some people believe it to be real and are vocal about it, while others are skeptical and consider it a myth. This issue has become a bone of contention among the two groups both advocating their beliefs which has confused the people about which group is right? The main issue between these groups is human involvement in Climate change. We will discuss the views of both the groups and then try to conclude.

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Climate activists’ view

The climate activists are of the view that human activity is directly responsible for global warming and climate change. They hold that if these activities are not controlled, all the species living on the earth will face some serious consequences including mass extinction. They say climate change is real and present the data of the melting of glaciers as a support to their claim. 9 out of 10 heatwaves with the most fatalities have occurred since 2000. Many cities have been flooded and islands submerged. According to NASA, the average temperature of the earth has risen by 1 degree Celsius in the last 50 years which is unprecedented. Climate activists show these figures in support of their claims. They say that capitalists are trying to save their oil and money that is why they refuse to accept this reality.

Anti climate change groups

People belonging to this group are against the notion that climate change is caused by human activity.  They refuse to accept that living species are under threat due to climate change and global warming. They are of the view that it is a natural cycle that some species become extinct sooner than others, for example, the dinosaurs were not wiped out by global warming, they got extinct because of a natural cycle. They counter the ice melting argument of the climate activists by saying that around 700 million years ago the earth was a snowball where there was nothing but snow all over the earth's surface and it melted away without any human activity because there were no humans then. To them, 1 degree Celsius in 50 years is no big deal, and the reason why we have most fatalities by heatwaves since 2000 is that we have advanced data recording tools now, which were not available in the previous centuries. They say that climate activists are spreading fears to promote their agenda.

Now we will look into this matter from a neutral point of view and try to establish the truth.

How are humans causing Climate change?

Earth and the moon are roughly 93 million miles away from the sun; the earth has an average temperature in the range of 57-61 degrees Fahrenheit while on the moon the average temperature in daylight is about 212 degrees and at night it becomes about -338 degrees Fahrenheit. This huge difference in the temperatures of the earth and the moon is due to the phenomenon of the Greenhouse effect on the earth. The earth is enshrouded by a thick atmosphere that allows the sunlight but does not allow all the heat from the sunlight to leave the earth which keeps the earth warm; the moon has no atmosphere and hence no greenhouse effect to keep its surface warm. The human activities are responsible for releasing carbon dioxide and other such greenhouse gases into the atmosphere which is making the atmosphere more and more thicker. The thicker it gets, the more heat from the sun will get trapped and consequently, global warming will occur. This is the human activity that adds to climate change. There are several other ways in which humans negatively affect their environment like deforestation, etc. which in turn adds to the cause of global warming. In 2018, 15 billion metric tons of fossil fuels were consumed. China leads the world with the largest share of 27.2%  in carbon emissions; the US with its 14.58% share comes second in line. This shows that economic prosperity comes at a cost to the environment. This proves the anti-climate change groups wrong in their assumption that human activity is not responsible for global warming.

There are also some natural causes of global warming which include volcanic eruptions, breathing, natural cycles and the earth’s tilt at a specific angle. This also proves the hardcore climate activists wrong who put the sole responsibility of global warming on human activities.

Conclusion

We now know that both human and natural activities cause global warming. Both groups must look at the bigger picture. We cannot stop nature, but we can limit our activities. Human activity does have a serious impact on climate change, and most of the countries have realized the gravity of the situation. Paris agreement is a recent example of how the world is now reacting to climate change. China will spend 780 billion dollars on renewable energy by 2030. Renewable energy is a 300 billion dollar industry today. Even the Saudi oil-producing giant like Aramco is investing 50 billion in this sector and many more are following. This shows that the world is taking global warming seriously and are trying to limit human activities that are responsible for global warming. We can say that though we still need more studies into the extent to which humans are responsible for global warming, nevertheless, we know it has a fair share in causing it. We can conclude that climate change is a reality and not a myth.

courtesy: Muhammad Saqib

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