5 Surprising Climate Change Myths

The very fact that there are still people who deny the existence of climate change is surprising in itself, and sceptics have come up with all sorts of reasons and excuses to negate the threat of climate change. However, they aren’t the only ones to blame. Environmentalists have also been guilty of stretching the truth – or outright fabricating it, in some instances.

Here are five of the biggest myths about climate change which you may be shocked to learn.

1. The Earth is now Warmer than Ever Before

Many people assume that the panic associated with climate change is the hike in temperature over the last century. However, in actual fact, the current temperature is nowhere near as warm as the Earth has been in its long history.

If we go back 50 million years to a period called the Eocene, the Earth was, on average a whole 10°C hotter than it is now. Of course, humans weren’t around back then, so we don’t have to worry about it. What we should worry about is the rate of the hike in temperature – the Earth may have been hotter, but it has never risen so quickly in such a short space of time. A 1°C rise in the last century may not sound like much… but it is unprecedented.

1. Extreme Weather is a Direct Result of Climate Change

It seems like every week there is a new major meteorological disaster which adds fuel to the fire for environmentalists in condemning climate change. While the rise in global temperature may have made more events slightly more likely, to hold it directly responsible is preposterous.

One only needs to look at the history books to see that extreme weather has been a regular occurrence throughout history. Climate change is not to blame – but it certainly isn’t helping, either.

1. More People Will Die if Temperatures Continue to Rise

A study in 2014 conducted by governmental organisation Public Health England caused a sensation when it published figures predicting that heat-related deaths in the summer months would more than double in the UK by 2050. However, what was not quite recognised by the panic-mongers was that the very same study revealed winter deaths would fall to such a level that on the whole, less people would succumb to the forces of nature.

In fact, the University of East Anglia published its findings in the same year which revealed that crop yields of soybeans and wheat would actually continue to increase over the coming 70 years due to elevated carbon and temperature levels. Clearly, climate change has advantages as well as disadvantages.

1. Ice in the Antarctic is Decreasing

It’s often trumpeted that the rising global temperature is wreaking havoc on the ice at the Poles. Whilst the degradation of Arctic ice has been well established, that surrounding the Antarctic is less clear cut. The simple answer: we just don’t know.

While we are able to obtain information about much of the Earth’s water-covered surface via research vessels, satellite data and even the natural archives stored inside living corals, our knowledge of the Antarctic is severely lacking. The ice there may be decreasing, it may not; but to categorically state it is decreasing is nothing more than fabrication.

1. There is no Scientific Consensus on Climate Change

According to a survey conducted by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, only one in nine Britons believes that the vast majority of scientists agree climate change is manmade. In reality, 97% of published articles and essays agree that the Earth’s temperature is slowly rising – and that man is to blame.

Although environmentalists may have been guilty of stretching the truth, there is no bigger myth associated with climate change than this one. Climate change is real – and it’s our fault.