One environmental scientist recently responded to an inflammatory comment on her TikTok, successfully shutting down one of the most common climate-related myths with a simple yet powerful explanation.
Emma (@simpleenvironmentalist) shared her response in a video. She included a snapshot of the original comment, which accused her of only believing in science that aligned with her politics.
“Yes, the Earth goes through cycles of warming and cooling,” she said. “We all accept that fact. But the fact that you’re not accepting is that this current cycle of warming is influenced by human emissions.”
“Human influence has drastically influenced how hot it’s getting and how quickly it’s getting that hot,” she continued.
She also shared multiple charts from verified scientific institutions, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the OER Project, that demonstrated how human behaviors have accelerated the natural warming cycles that occur on our planet. And, as she emphasized, this is a well-documented phenomenon agreed upon in every scientific circle.
Specifically, it’s the releasing of toxic gases into the atmosphere — ones that are emitted by burning fossil fuels, like oil and gas — that has accelerated this warming. There is currently over 40% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there was just 200 years ago, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and there’s more than two-and-a-half times as much methane. These numbers are far higher than the natural warming and cooling cycles that occur over millions of years, the EPA explained.
Unfortunately, the more of these gas compounds that remain in the atmosphere, the more heat is trapped there, due to a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect. And this planet-wide warming has led to a myriad of issues that are becoming more serious the hotter it gets.
For example, hotter temperatures have a direct impact on weather — causing more severe droughts and triggering more intense storms. This is why frequent, erratic weather has become the norm in many parts of the globe over the last several years, from raging wildfires to severe hurricanes.
These weather patterns, in turn, influence everything from agriculture to biodiversity and species survival, threatening the basic environmental networks that underpin all life on the planet.
The impact is incredibly costly. Many scientists estimate that by 2050, climate change will cost a staggering $40 trillion each year, Forbes shared. These costs will be borne by all people, but not proportionally — in fact, many of the costs will likely be shouldered by those who didn’t contribute significantly to the warming themselves, since the world’s wealthiest 1% emits more planet-warming pollution than the poorest 67%.
But despite these worrisome, looming outcomes, there are still a number of ways that the average person can fight to slow the drastic warming of our atmosphere.
These include individual choices, like switching to an EV or upgrading to home solar power; consumer choices, like investing and buying from sustainable companies; and civic choices, like voting for pro-climate candidates and boycotting high-polluting corporations.
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