Ah, Earth Day- the one day every year where the general public pretends to be a lot more concerned with the welfare of the only known planet that can provide us with life. Even the Internet trolls seem to take a rare moment of silence to pay appreciation to the habitat that produces the oxygen they waste on damaging, anti-scientific nonsense.
Unfortunately, you’re likely gonna encounter these people at some point during the other 364 days of the year. Climate change deniers defy research, logic, compassion for nature or the wellbeing of our species, mainly to argue a religious or economic ideal.
Here are ten comments that you can expect to hear should you ever be so unlucky as to encounter a climate change denier on the Internet, in a classroom, or anywhere else.
- This Is Natural
Tide patterns. Solar flares. Cycles galore. Climate change deniers usually like to throw around terms- whether legitimate or not- that they remember from elementary school science lessons and say it with a confidence that make them sound smart.
Some of them cite periods in our history like the Holocene Climatic Optimum, when temperatures were generally warmer than today- but this effect was not global and doesn’t have any relation to today’s changing temperatures.
Your response? Let them know that, while it is true that historians and scientists have noted periods of time that were significantly hotter than others, and tides such as El Nino can affect an area’s climate, climate change isn’t merely talking about the world getting warmer. It’s talking about a complex, varied set of alterations to the climate- and 97% of the scientific community now agree that human activity has played a role in these changes.
Explain to them that, when we burn fossil fuels, we emit greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere- these gasses occur naturally, but, when they are released in such large quantities, they trap heat energy in our atmosphere. Unlike solar patterns, which will change with time, this heat energy cannot escape our atmosphere- meaning these effects aren’t a matter of waiting it out, they are here to stay.
2. What About the Economy?
Unsurprisingly, one of the first points of concern for climate change deniers is the money aspect of it all. Ultimately, their concerns mainly lie with the booming industry that is fossil fuels- and its power in virtually every industry since the Industrial Revolution.
Your response? While it is legitimately concerning how much prominence we’ve allowed fossil fuels to play in our economy- millions of jobs and trillions of dollars are wrapped up in it- that doesn’t mean we can’t create an ecologically friendly, booming economy. Sustainable resources- including solar energy, hydro and wind- definitely have the potential to completely fulfill our energy demands- in fact, countries like Denmark have already created a sustainable economy, with much success. The majority of the world already depends mainly on other nations for their oil needs- sustainable energy gives an opportunity for increased independence, and could save us from wasting precious tax dollars on the devastation caused by climate change.
Additionally, it is much, much better that we handle this now- fossil fuels are inarguably non-renewable, and one day we will run out of them. That is not disputable. It is not hotly debated. It is a reality, and if we run out of these fuels before taking the necessary steps to shift our power needs- well, that’s going to be the biggest economic disaster we’ve ever encountered.
Of course, there will definitely be a need for a transition period, and many of our jobs will have to redistributed- but that doesn’t mean renewable energy can’t create just as many jobs as fossil fuels- and really, our major countries decided to build a world dependent on resources that are inherently limited- the consequence of that is that we need to put in the hard work to rebuild that system.
3. Even if climate change were real- we won’t need to worry about any negative consequences for decades.
Well, first off, congratulations on showing how compassionate you are- not worried about future generations because it won’t affect you personally. Regardless, you’re just wrong.
We are already seeing massive, damaging effects of climate change. From wonky weather patterns, to an increase in deadly and destructive wildfires, to hurricanes and tornadoes that are record-breaking in their damages, to more droughts, to a poorer agricultural economy, to an increase in public health issues (for example, locations near oil sources have higher rates of cancer and miscarriages), to rising sea levels. We’re already seeing our sea levels rise, and scientists predict we could be seeing our coastal cities flooding as early as 2050- ever dreamed of living out your days in San Francisco or Sydney? Maybe it’s time to reconsider.
In short, the effects of climate change that we’ve already seen are devastating and serious- and they will get worse, and in our lifetime. Who agrees upon this? Well, see below…
- There is debate surrounding this is the scientific community.
Not really. Now, I don’t doubt that someone willing to deny the role of human activity in regards to climate change may not have done too well in STEM courses, but I can only imagine they still understand that 97% is a pretty big fraction. For every 100 scientists, only 3 do not believe that climate change is a) a real thing, b) a bad thing and c) a manmade thing, and even then, that doesn’t even mean that the remaining three percent outright deny climate change- they just aren’t 100% convinced.
If majority opinion is what wins the debate, well, then deniers have already lost by significant margins. Which is why we have our next comment…
- Scientists are all in the pockets of the government/companies/the Illuminati.
97% of them? Understand that this statistic stretches far beyond just scientists employed by the government- we’re talking about scientists who work for universities, charities, private companies, even the oil industry. The number of employers who scientists work for are so broad and diverse that there’s no way that that all of them could possibly be working for a group with a special interest.
Which brings me to my next point- what special interest could that possibly be? I can understand the theory- scientists seeking grant money from the government would want to produce results they feel the people funding them want to see- but why would the government ever pay to see those results? Our economy is completely built upon fossil fuels, even the boldest action we’ve ever seen introduced to Congress doesn’t go as far as to completely replace fossil fuels, there’s no evidence that government officials could ever profit from renewable industries, and we don’t even give most of our grant money to climate research, anyways. There simply isn’t enough incentive or enough funding to produce corrupt lies from the vast majority of the scientific community.
Even if you could somehow argue that the government does in fact have incentive to concoct a complicated, major lie about our climate- why would scientists ever think they’d lose their grant money for not producing the results their funders want? Cancer research still manages to pull in trillions of dollars- would it not be in the best interest of the scientists to hold off on confirming climate change for as long as possible in order to receive the most possible funding?
Boom, I’ve just out-conspiracied the conspiracy theorists.
- How can you say you’re pro-environment when you use a car/plastic/electricity/anything else that used fossil fuels to produce?
First of all, let’s reiterate the point climate change deniers so desperately want to make- that our entire world is designed around fossil fuels. You can hate that we depend on gasoline to get around, but the reality is it is unlikely that you’ll be lucky enough to find a workplace or a school that’s close enough and easy enough to get to that you can walk- and even then, when you factor in weather restrictions, visiting loved ones, travelling for basic needs such as groceries and medical care, travelling for fun and fulfillment, and the struggles of walking on foot (what happens when you have to get your new sofa home and all you have is a mountain bike?) it’s pretty impossible to live your life without a car or public transit.
Same goes for electricity. We need it to survive. Yeah, there are little things we can all do to make a difference- we probably should just buy a reusable water bottle, and yeah, we probably didn’t need that little trinket that will almost certainly end up in a landfill- but ultimately, we can’t depend on the actions of a few environmentally-conscious citizens. It’s the corporations of the world that are creating this disaster, not individuals- and the point of environmentalism isn’t to say we shouldn’t enjoy this quality of life. No one wants a world where we perform surgery by candlelight and walk by foot between our grass huts. We love modern technology- we just think we can have it without causing permanent damage to our planet.
- The Earth is ours to use as we please- it’s our privilege as humans.
Shut the hell up.
- Incremental change is the best solution to this problem.
Okay, kind of. Yes, we will absolutely need a transitional period between depending on non-renewable and renewable resources.
But that doesn’t mean “incremental” change is the best- far too often, this word is thrown around to mean “we’re gonna do nothing” or “we’re gonna do pretty close to nothing but pat ourselves on the back because incremental change is still change!” Neither of these work. If we are going to stop (and possibly reverse at least some of) the effects of climate change, we are going to need to act right away. We don’t need to spend the next decade laying down the foundations. We don’t need to give a few million dollars in grant money away so that a few solar farms can be built. We don’t need to focus on meager goals of ten to thirty percent of our energy being renewable- our goal needs to be a rapidly different system, and we need our action to reflect that.
- It was cold outside/the Antarctic ice sheets aren’t melting/there were actually less hurricanes this year…
You don’t get it, do you? There’s a reason it’s called climate change- while global warming seemed like a suitable title for a while, because it’s caused by greenhouse gasses, the whole process is actually a number of processes- all with their own effects. In some places, climate change may even cause uncharacteristically cold weather.
As for ice sheets, understand that if we were losing the Antarctic, the biggest ice sheet in the world, it would almost certainly be too late for us. That’s like looking at a house fire and saying there couldn’t possibly be any real damage, because everyone knows the hottest flames are blue- therefor only blue flame can cause damage. Saying that one of the worst possible things that could happen to our planet hasn’t happened yet is a sign that nothing bad is happening is utterly ridiculous. Also, there’s evidence that growing ice sheets may even be consistent with global warming- overall, one of the biggest effects we’ve seen is an increase in precipitation- and Antarctica is the biggest desert in the world. Therefore, if it receives an unnatural amount of precipitation, it will almost certainly lead to more ice- unless of course, the temperature is above zero, which once again, would essentially mean it’s the apocalypse.
As for hurricanes? There’s no evidence that climate change would ever cause more hurricanes- just bigger and worse ones, which yes, we have been seeing.
- Why should I care about the planet? After all, this doesn’t affect me.
Yes, it does. We depend on the Earth, it does not depend on us. If you like drinking clean water, you should care. If you don’t want to have to spend more of your tax money on disaster relief, you should care. If you don’t want to face a drought or a flood or a fire or a hurricane, you should care. If you live near a coast, you should care. If you don’t want our population density to rapidly change because millions had to move inland, you should care.
Ultimately, you should care because this planet has given you absolutely everything you have ever and will ever enjoy. It’s the reason you are alive. It’s beautiful. It doesn’t only support you, but has supported trillions of other living things, from trees to insects to animals that could swallow you whole. It’s powerful enough to give you life- and also powerful enough to take it away. And that’s exactly what could happen if we ignore this climate crisis.
That’s why you should care.
Comments are closed.