The Climate Change Hype: A Hoax or Reality?
We all have wondered while sitting safely in our homes if all this climate change thing is a hoax. Does the horrendous effects of the climate change or global warming that we hear are occurring in reality or are those just words of terror? Does the climate change make any difference in our lives? There can be seen many deniers of climate change claiming to challenge the so-called conventional wisdom and asking "Is climate change a hoax? Is man-made global warming a dire threat environmentalist claim?" Even youth can fall for this enigma of whether the climate change is an existential threat or its mere exaggerations. When assessing doomsday claims about climate change which are promulgated and emphasized by politicians, public figures and even scientists, it is important to contemplate where those claims come from and explore what is the thing that is incentivizing these people to make such claims.
Is the seriousness of global warming generally exaggerated, generally correct or is it generally underestimated? The truth is that the excruciating alarming situation that we encounter about climate change in news or articles is far more serious than we can imagine. It is not a matter of just our lives, it has become a matter of all living creatures on this planet. It has become a matter of survival, a matter of our coming generations that could face fatal threats if climate change is not dealt effectively at this point. There exists a scientific consensus on the climate change issue and how it keeps growing in a vulnerable way. But there also exists political and social debates concerning the existence of changing climatic conditions, and how much significance the situation carries and how it needs to be addressed. Moreover, public take it as any other social issue displayed on media with extra delicacy and thinks that it is being overstated or overemphasized.
We need to acknowledge that climate change is not just a hype as many other issues. It is an undeniable global issue. Climatic patterns are changing drastically worldwide. The statistics have proven the changes evidently by comparing past conditions to the present ones. The major issue lying among us is that we are not ready to face the bitter truth that we are the ones responsible and accountable for these serious ongoing climate changes. These changes are all majorly a result of our development and industrial practices indeed. Capitalism is the sole root of present climatic conditions. Our planet is at a verge of doom because of these practices as the impacts of global warming are being felt everywhere, from rising sea levels to more extreme weather, more frequent wildfires, and heatwaves and increased drought, to name a few.
Climate change is not just an environmental issue, as too many people still believe. It is an all-encompassing threat, to health, to agriculture, to peace and security, to the very ground millions of people live on, to the global economy. As reported “Climate change is going to wipe out humanity, or even all life on our planet. Civilization will topple, and famine and natural disasters will pick off the survivors”. Again, these are not just myths or claims that carries any possibility to be proven inaccurate or irrational. The claims have been made by well-known organizations and researchers based on facts and estimated scenarios.
To highlight what climate change has costed us, it is necessary to compare present stats with past ones. The IPBES report highlights that up to one million species could be lost in coming decades due to changing climatic conditions. As observed, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere, as of 2018, is the highest it has been in 3 million years. NASA and NOAA data show that global averages in 2016 were 1.78 degrees F (0.99 degrees C) warmer than the mid-20th century average. Seventeen of the 18 warmest years have occurred since 2000, which indicates the pace at which climate change is occurring. In the Amazon, 1% of tree species sequester 50% of the region’s carbon. Unfortunately, in recent series of amazon rainforest wildfires, the fires are both generating large amounts of carbon dioxide, while at the same time destroying millions of trees that would be taking in the carbon dioxide and protecting the environment. The new IPCC assessment report says that humanity has time until 2030 to reverse the path of constantly growing GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions. If not dealt with efficiency, the climatic conditions would become irreversible.
These report-based claims lead to the realization that climate change is not just another headline that emerges to be as a global issue but settles with the passage of time. In fact it is getting worse with time. Only the combined determination of World Leaders and systemic change that overthrows global capitalism can control the climate change. The countries contributing to greenhouse gas emissions on large scale needs to introduce radical and effective plans of reducing their carbon footprint. The time to act is now. But the action isn't easy. It’s reassuring to see organizations like IPCC, agreements like Accord de Paris among the platforms taking climate change seriously as the grave danger it is. But the struggle does not stop here. Global warming remains an issue of widespread political debate, often split along party political lines. The efforts of political and social organizations on national levels are inadequate without a setting a global vision and implementing steps on global scale to aim for a carbon-free economy.
Whether the youth protests can goad many world leaders into changing their policies is a big question mark at best. Climate activists have often been fond of telling us that “we’re all in this together” and that only by working across political and ideological boundaries can we hope to save the planet. If all this comes to pass, the world might have a fighting chance of preserving our natural environment. All noteworthy efforts to curb the climate change issue, but the fact remains if there is no efficient global effort in this regard, hollow words and empty promises cannot the save our dying planet. This global issue needs to be handled on a global scale. It is no longer just a threat lingering on our heads, rather, it is imminent, and the doom is closer than it appears if no the efforts continue to remain limited within reports and alarms.
