When a senior manager at work tells us something we can’t agree with, we are likely to remain silent. That’s because they have what sociologists call ‘situational authority’ over us. ‘Sapiental authority’ works differently though. That word comes from wisdom. We allow people like David Attenborough and Steven Hawkins to influence our thoughts because we respect their insights. Let’s apply that thought to four famous climate change denial myths.
Climate Change Denial Myths About CO2 and Climate Changing
Some famous politicians with situational power want us to believe CO2 is not dangerous. ‘In fact crops, trees and plants need it to grow,’ they say. Wisdom says CO2 is not a problem in itself. However we are making too much carbon and it’s clogging the atmosphere causing global warming.
Those politicians reply by saying ‘the climate has been changing back and forth forever’. This is true, says wisdom. However, for the first time ever, human activity is affecting the severity. Earth’s systems can only compensate so much for our foolishness. What happens if warming gets out of control? These two climate change denial myths just don’t hold water.
“It’s Only a Few Degrees and We Will Adapt”
The people in authority wanting us to go along with climate change, point out ‘but it’s only a few degrees’. That’s actually a lot, say scientists. Did you know a 4 to 5ºC shift caused the last great ice age. Wisdom says imagine a shift in temperature the other way.
However, the theory that people will adapt, is the greatest of all climate change denial myths. While it’s true that birds and animals are migrating to cooler climes, there are not enough survivors to cause a major problem. However humans are another matter because there are 82 million more of us every year.
We see millions of starving people from warmer climates trying to storm their way into North America and Europe already. If climate change spins out of control no wall will be tall enough to hold them back. And that’s definitely no myth.
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