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There are a lot of people out there with genuine questions about climate change, and a few who are paid to sow doubt about the issue.
On this page we tackle some of the tough questions, and more than a few of the outright lies that are repeated far too often.
Below are climate change myths. Also check out our solutions myths (yes some people don't like wind turbines).
Q:
Is there really solid science behind what we think we know about
climate change? I heard that some scientists still disagree.
We think Lord Robert May, President of the Royal Society (the world's
oldest scientific society) said it well in his 2004 anniversary address:
"There are, as always, questions about particular details. But those
who suggest that the marked changes in climate patterns are not
associated with human activities (as some still do) are isomorphic with
those who suggest that cigarette smoking is not the major cause of lung
cancer (as some still do)."
Much of the so
called "debate" about the issue is largely thanks to sophisticated PR
work by the fossil fuel industry. See the Heat is Online for a good list of their lies.
Q: Shouldn't we be building more nuclear power plants? Aren't they greenhouse gas free?
Really, we can't understand why anyone (outside of the nuclear
industry) thinks this is a good idea.
Nuclear power is the most
expensive and most dangerous means ever devised by humans to boil
water.
Plus, it still has all of the same fundamental problems it
did ten, twenty and thirty years ago (risk of nuclear weapons
proliferation, the unsolved radioactive waste problem, plant safety
problems, security issues, etc)
Q: I know for a fact
that plants use carbon dioxide to grow. Won't more carbon dioxide
just make plants grow faster – so we'll have more forests, more food
and no climate change because the plants will absorb the extra carbon
dioxide?
Unfortunately, no.
Carbon fertilisation,
as the effect is called, is well documented to be a false hope.
One problem is that there
are other factors besides carbon dioxide keeping plants from unlimited
growth. One example is soil nutrients. Another is
water.
See this post on RealClimate for more info.
Q: How can a few degrees be such a big deal? Where I live the temperature changes more than that in a day.
Small changes in the global average temperature can have big
effects.
For example, the last ice age was only about 5° Celsius
(9°F) cooler than today.
Since the late 1800's our planet has
warmed about 0.6°Celcius (1.1°F), and even with that small amount of
heating we're seeing serious impacts.
Q: Stopping climate change isn't practical. Why can't we just adapt to it?
When your house is on fire, the first thing you do is put the fire out
– not try and get used to the heat.
The truth is that we will
need to do a lot of adapting just to cope with the more than 1°C
(1.8°F) that is now basically inevitable (thanks to past and current
emissions).
But we will also need to hold the global rise in
temperature to under 2°C (3.6°F).
If it goes any higher, we are
at a greater risk of catastrophic impacts and run away feedback
effects.
Fortunately, there are proven technologies we
can use to get the energy we need without more climate change.
See our Solutions section for more detail.
However, in respect
to both adaptation and implementing solutions, the richer nations must
take the lead and provide assistance.
Indeed, they are bound to do so
by treaty obligation, having signed the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change.
Many poorer countries simply don't have the resources,
money or expertise to go it on their own.
Besides, it's largely
the richer nations that have caused the problem in the first place, by
centuries of fossil fuel burning and deforestation.
Links:
The latest climate science: RealCimate.org
How Exxon fuels climate change sceptism: Exxon secrets
