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CLIMATE CHANGE MISCONCEPTIONS by Aleksandras Melnik 8A

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When I started writing about climate change, I noticed that people know quite a lot about this topic , but it seems that a lot of that information are myths and misconceptions. So here I try to tackle just the 10 most popular that I’ve seen.

1. ‘THEY CHANGED IT TO CLIMATE CHANGE FROM GLOBAL WARMING BECAUSE IT WASN’T HAPPENING’

   Though the average global temperature is rising every year, in different areas we might see different changes in climate, and it might temporarily even get colder in some places, so to avoid confusion the term climate change is being used.

2. ‘THE PLANET ISN’T WARMING’

   Yes it is. The 10 hottest years in record were in the 21st century.

Though you might see slight drops in global temperature it has a very rapid rising tendency and there is no more real scientific debate on this question.

3. ‘EVEN IF THE EARTH IS WARMING, MAYBE THAT’S JUST THE SUN GETTING WARMER’

For the last 100 years the sun has only been emitting less heat. While the temperature has only been going up.

4. ‘HOW DO YOU KNOW IT’S CARBON DIOXIDE’S FAULT, MAYBE SOMETHING ELSE IS CAUSING IT’

   First of all, if we look at the rise of the global temperature and compare it to the rise of CO2 levels, it is obvious that they are related. Second there is an approved scientific model called the ‘Greenhouse effect’ , which explains how the CO2 in the atmosphere works as a green house trapping sunlight and causing it to bounce of, thus warming the atmosphere.

5. ‘THE HOLE IN THE OZONE LAYER CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING’

The ozone hole is a man made phenomenon, but it doesn’t cause the temperature to change. The ozone layer is a part of atmosphere rich with O3 molecules, that blocks the harmful UV radiation. Due to man made chemicals, holes in that layer started appearing and letting more and more UV radiation pass trough. This doesn’t cause the temperature to rise bat is bad for humans and may even cause skin cancer.

6. ‘THE CLIMATE JUST CHANGES NATURALLY, SO WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT’

The climate has been changing before, but it has been do to change in earths rotation and orbit, and the CO2 levels have never grown so rapidly before, because no one has been burning coal or other fuel.

7. ‘ALRIGHT, IT WILL GET WARMER, SO WHAT?’

   As you may know the global warming isn’t the only effect of climate change. When the temperature is rising the polar ice caps are melting and all off that ice goes straight in to the ocean. From basic physics we know, that if something goes in to water, it pushes that much water out, causing the water level to rise. The same way the sea level will only be rising, and if that may not be a big threat to countries like Lithuania, this may be deadly to coastal cities and countries like Japan or the city of Los Angeles.

8. ‘THE WARMER CLIMATE WILL ONLY BE A BETTER THING FOR  PLANTS AND AGRICULTURE.

   It is true that in some areas the warmer climate may be beneficial it also causes the rise of sea levels, which means floods and then intense periods of drought, the changing air currants will cause huge storms and tornadoes.

9. ’WELL OK, BUT THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO ANYWAYS’   

   This is the worst misconception of all. Though, I, personally, am not an ‘eco geek’ or a vegan, or any nature activist of that sort, but I think it is just plainly stupid to deny what’s happening and to not see that we are causing it. The major thing that humanity could do, is to stop using fossil fuels. Not all countries (like Lithuania) can survive only on sun and wing energy, but there is nuclear and thermonuclear energy. These are the areas where the world governments should be investing if they are expecting to preserve the planet for the future.

 No, just no.

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3 Comments

  1. Arnoldas April 6, 2016

    Good article, but after reading it – are those really misconceptions? I knew everything that you wrote and if you know at least some basic info about global warming and think logically these misconceptions sound silly, because the answers are obvious, and personally I think GW is a nonissue – Earth will adapt so will we. Electric cars are advancing at a rapid pace, the infrastructure will take a bit more time but when wireless charging for cars will be implemented, adoptions for electric cars will skyrocket.

  2. Matas April 5, 2016

    So simply about difficult things????great????

  3. Juste April 5, 2016

    I liked your article????very informative…

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