Climate change is ongoing! All
are agreed.
That climate change is happening
is not the issue, the cause of climate change is the bone of contention.
Also, it is gen
It is also generally accepted
that it is the rising surface mean temperature of planet Earth that is causing
upsets in climatic patterns, or climate change.
Let me share with you the website
WIRED’s definition of climate change for clarity sake as you come along.
“Climate
change is the catch-all term for the shift in worldwide weather phenomena
associated with an increase in global average temperatures. It's real and
temperatures have been going up around the world for many decades.
Reliable
temperature records began in 1850 and
our world is now about one degree Celcius hotter than it was in the period between 1850 and 1900 – commonly
referred to as the "pre-industrial" average.
The
change is even more visible over a shorter time period – compared to average temperatures between 1961 and 1990, 2017 was 0.68 degrees warmer,
while 2016 was 0.8 degrees warmer, thanks to an extra boost from the
naturally-occurring El Niño weather system.
While this temperature increase is more specifically referred to
as global warming, climate change is the term currently favoured by science
communicators, as it explicitly includes not only Earth's increasing global
average temperature, but also the climate effects caused by this increase.”
The foregoing definition of climate change is narrow so I am going
to give another definition of climate change from the Offline Dictionary of
English to give it a broaden outlook. This sense of the term climate change
says “Natural large- scale and long- term change in the Earth’s climatic
system, as brought about by ice ages.”
The implication and importance of introducing the second
definition is that it is not only high temperatures that trigger climate
change, but low temperatures too trigger climate change! While the first
definition points to man-made climate change, the second definition points to
naturally-occurring climate change.
Believers in climate change are
of the position that the rising mean temperature of the surface of planet Earth
which triggers climate change is caused and driven by human activities, that is,
it is anthropogenic.
Meanwhile, doubters or skeptics
are of the position that it is the variation in solar radiation or the
temperature of the sun that determines the temperature of planet Earth.
BELIEVERS (FAITH)
- As hinted, believers as a school of thought think that it is the activities of man that is the main cause and driver of the ongoing climate change, as opposed to the doubters who think that the ongoing climate change is as a result of changes in the temperature of the sun, and therefore it is a natural occurrence.
- Other name for or associated with this group is climate scientists.
- Believers think that the activities of man release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The greenhouse gases particularly carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere thus trapping heat which causes global warming. When sunlight hits the surface of planet Earth some of it ought to return back into space leaving a temperature to keep the surface of planet Earth comfortably habitable. With global warming the greenhouse gases blocks the sunlight from escaping back into space in the required quantity.
- Some of the activities of man that is creating so much greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are deforestation, burning of fossil fuel, agriculture etc.
- Believers in climate change think that the beginning of the industrial revolution and population increase underpins global warming which triggers climate change.
- Believers think that changes in solar radiation as a causative factor in global warming is minimal.
DOUBTERS
- The main position of the doubters is that the changes going on in the climate is a reaction to changes in the temperature of the sun and therefore a natural occurrence. This position is in opposition to the believers’ position that climate change is anthropogenic.
- Other names for or associated with this group are climate change skeptics, climate change deniers and climate change contrarians.
- The
position of doubters is explained in the quotation that follows: “Dr. Soon never sought the job of defending us against the
slick, computer model-driven, anti-fossil fuel certainties of Climate
Apocalypse. Willie just happened to choose solar science as a career and, like
many solar scientists, after nearly three decades of scientific research in his
case, came to believe that changes in the sun’s brightness, sunspots and energy
output, changes in the orbital position of the Earth relative to the sun, and
other powerful natural forces drive climate change. In brief, our sun controls
our climate.
Even the IPCC initially indicated agreement with him, citing his
work approvingly in its second (1996) and third (2001) Assessment Reports. That
later changed, significantly. Sure, everyone agrees that the sun caused the
waxing and waning of the ice ages, just as solar scientists say. However, the
sun had to be played down if carbon dioxide (CO2) was to be played up – an
abuse of science that makes Willie sick.” (https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/02/dr-willie-soon-versus-the-climate-apocalypse/)
In the foregoing quotation Willie and Dr. Soon
is the one and same person, a climate change doubter. The full name is Dr.
Willie Soon, and he is being referred to by Dr. Jeffrey Foss, Professor Emeritus,
University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
- Doubters think that starting this twenty first century cooling is ongoing!
- Doubters believe that anthropogenic carbon dioxide is a relatively small amount of gas in the atmosphere, and that aerosol is more of a heat trapper.
FORCES BEHIND BELIEVERS
The force rallying earthlings to
support the anthropogenic climate change position is the IPCC, under the
auspices of the United Nations Organization. The IPPC is championing the path
of sustainable lifestyle. Sustainable lifestyle ensures that sufficient
resources are bequeathed to posterity. The IPPC encourages the use of renewable
resources such as solar energy and wind energy.
IPCC
as an acronym stands for The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC was created to provide policymakers
with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and
potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation
options. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for
assessing the science related to climate change.
FORCES BEHIND DOUBTERS
Those who give pecuniary and
morale drive to doubters are industrialists, conservatives etc.
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Soon
: “In 2011, it was revealed that Soon received
over $1 million from petroleum and coal interests since 2001.[32] Harvard–Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics documents obtained by Greenpeace under the US Freedom of Information Act show that the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation gave Soon two grants totaling $175,000 in 2005–06 and
again in 2010. Multiple grants from the American Petroleum Institute between
2001 and 2007 totalled $274,000, and grants from Exxon Mobil totalled $335,000 between 2005 and 2010. Other coal and
oil industry sources which funded him include the Mobil Foundation, the Texaco
Foundation and the Electric Power Research Institute.”
The Soon mentioned in the
foregoing paragraph is the same Dr. Willie Soon referred to under the section
“Doubters”.
COMMON GROUNDS
It is clear that the natural
environment is not in the best of shapes. However one looks at it the natural
environment is facing problems that need urgent and timeous interventions.
Believers in anthropogenic climate
change believe it is the activities of man that is the main cause of the
ongoing climate change, and contribution of solar activities to climate change
minimal. On the other hand, doubters, that is those who do not believe in
anthropogenic climate change, think that changes in the temperature of the sun
that is the main cause of climate change, and the activities of man a small
contributor to climate change.
Both believers
and doubters have a common ground! They differ on the grounds of the main cause
of climate change. They both agree that man does contribute to climate change.
Also, they both agree that the sun do have a role to play in the temperature of
planet Earth.
Since both
believers and doubters accept that man, that is how they are handling the
resources of the natural environment (whether as the main or the minor), is the
cause of climate change, that must be a common ground of convergence for both
believers and doubters! A ground of convergence to tackle climate change, from
our perspective as earthlings. There is also a common ground for the solar
contribution to climate change but I guess the sun should take care of itself.
CONCLUSION
My conclusion constitutes my
citizen science position.
Both believers and doubters have
both common grounds of agreement and grounds of disagreement. I had rather they use the
common grounds of agreement to develop synergies to tackle the major problem of climate
change, rather than use the grounds of disagreement to tear each other apart.
And this earthlings ought to do from the anthropogenic perspective because that
is what is within our grasp, so to speak.
The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, believer in anthropogenic climate change, champions transition
to renewables and sustainable lifestyles to contain climate change, and for
posterity.
The transition is not easy but
something is happening as indicated in the statement extracted from-https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/06/04/big-oil-is-investing-billions-in-renewable-energy.aspx:
“To date, big oil investments in renewable
energy have spanned practical slow-and-steady approaches (solar panels) to big,
bold bets (next-generation energy storage or genetically engineered algae).
However, not all companies have a coherent strategy in place just yet. For
instance, whereas ExxonMobil wants to develop next-generation renewable fuels
that can be dropped into its existing refining and distribution network,
Chevron has yet to pick a defined path in clean energy.
That's something investors should
keep in mind. Then again, these massive oil companies are just getting started.
In other words, like it or not, the road to a renewable energy future is
probably paved with the profits of oil and gas operations.”
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