What is global
warming? From the Union of
Concerned
Scientists:
“When
CO2 and other heat-trapping emissions are released into the air, they act like
a blanket, holding heat in our atmosphere and warming the planet.
Overloading
our atmosphere with carbon has far-reaching effects for people all around the
world—more extreme storms, more severe droughts, deadly heat waves, rising sea
levels, and more acidic oceans, which can affect the very base of the food chain.”
What causes global warming?
The primary cause of global
warming is human activity, most significantly the burning of fossil fuels to
drive cars, generate electricity, and operate our homes and businesses.
There are many
web sites devoted to “how to argue with a climate change skeptic.” Researching them leads me to conclude
the following: In our militaristic
society it is best to begin with the opinions of the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and the pentagon.
All service top brass agree that climate change is a reality and that it
is a grave threat to national security.
They agree that, in the future, it will be a leading cause of war.
The second
argument I would recommend to use against climate change deniers, in our
“capitalistic” society, is to point out that the vast majority of the world’s
corporate CEO’s are preparing to deal with the effects of climate change in
their business plans.
The third point to be
presented is against the opinion, often presented by climate change skeptics, “there is no scientific consensus” about
climate change facts. Well, there
will always be “flat earthers.” But as Grist points out --
http://grist.org/climate-energy/there-is-no-consensus/
-- “No one in the climate
science community is debating whether or not changes in atmospheric CO2
concentrations alter the greenhouse effect, or if the current warming trend is
outside of the range of natural variability, or if sea levels have risen over
the last century. “ Furthermore, 97% of climate experts agree humans are causing global warming.
Finally, the fourth argument I would present is against
the argument often stated by climate deniers, that “It’s cold today in my
town.” I actually heard this
statement repeated three times by a person I debated on facebook. The obvious answer, from Grist, is that
“The chaotic nature of
weather means that no conclusion about climate can ever be drawn from a single
data point, hot or cold. The temperature
of one place at one time is just weather, and says nothing about climate, much less climate change, much
less global climate change.”
There are many opinions expressed by
climate change skeptics. A little
research on the internet will help you to refute all of them.
However, do not
expect to convince the nearly
two-thirds (65 percent) of ignorant, aprioristic white evangelical Protestants,
who say they think that recent storms and dramatic changes in the weather, are
evidence of the "end times" as predicted by the Bible. That’s four out of ten Americans! God help us all! Well, he/she hasn’t yet interfered in
our collective efforts to destroy the human race through overloading the
atmosphere with carbon and other heat-trapping omissions.
