Despite the soaring temperatures, rapid-melting ice-creams, and frequent ‘Hottest [insert your favourite month here] ever recorded!’ headlines, people still remain sceptic about the (human-induced) change in climate across the world. The deniers’ arguments typically take on one of the following manifestations.

“There is no evidence for climate change”.  Global warming is not an output of computer models, but a conclusion based on measurements and observations of scientists around the world, with data sources from the last 150 years. Fifteen of the top 16 warmest years have occurred since 2000.

“There is no scientific consensus”. This is simply misinformation. Every major research institute that deals with global warming says climate change is real (and dangerous). Of the published climate researchers that state a position, just over 97 per cent say humans are causing global warming. The lack of consensus argument stems from the different predictions about the degree of change in climate we will experience in the next years, but almost all scientists agree this is a rapid and significant climate change.

Another common argument by the deniers is: “What difference will a few degrees make?” While the idea of barbecues in December is attractive to many in the northern hemisphere, just a rise of two to five degrees could be catastrophic for the planet. One of the worst effects of this would be rising sea levels (partially fuelled by the melting glaciers). The increase in temperature could also cause more extreme weather events.

Many other arguments have been put forward such as “the climate’s changed before” (climate reacts to the dominant force, which nowadays is humans as opposed to nature) or “animals and plants will adapt” (adaptation can happen through evolution but not at the short scale required).

The overwhelming evidence is that we should start reducing carbon dioxide levels in the air (this is the main contributor to human-induced climate change). Using renewable energy and shrinking our carbon footprint will go a long way to slow the rapid climate change.

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