How to Debate the Climate Change Skeptics in Your Life

March 16, 2022 CATALYST Team

With many climate skeptics, it’s important to know how to respond to the claims from those who don’t believe in human-induced climate.

Climate change protest in Nuremberg. Markus Spiske. Unsplash.

Climate change refers to the current unprecedented warming of the climate that the Earth is experiencing. There are many skeptics who don’t believe the planet’s warming is of concern or that humanity is the main driver. These skeptics have a few main points they like to bring up. Here’s how to hit back.

“The Earth’s climate has always been changing, so there’s no reason we need to be worried now.”

Though the first part of this claim is correct (Earth’s climate has always been in flux), this is most certainly not a reason to be unconcerned about the current warming our planet is experiencing. Though the climate has changed a lot throughout Earth’s history, the planet hasn’t experienced such rapid warming in at least the last 2,000 years as it is currently. To respond to this type of statement, the key is referencing the unprecedented rate of warming as the reason modern climate change is a huge problem that needs to be addressed immediately. For specific credible evidence, one can draw from the reports made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is a body of the United Nations that conducts and disseminates scientific studies on modern climate change. In the Summary for Policymakers of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, it was reported that humans have caused the Earth to warm by an estimated 1.07 C since the Industrial Revolution. Comparing this temperature anomaly to ones before the mid 1800s shows us “human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented.”

“The Earth has been much warmer in the past than it is today, so we don’t need to be worried that it’s getting warmer.”

Again, the first part of this claim is true; we are actually currently in what is called an icehouse period, meaning we are experiencing a colder phase relative to Earth’s entire history. Though our current climate isn’t abnormally warm compared to all of Earth’s history, it is not only warming unusually fast, but it also poses dangers to humans, animals and many ecosystems, which are adapted to Earth’s current climate—not a warmer one. In response to these statements, it’s important to remind those in the conversation that we aren’t physically or fiscally able to adapt ourselves, our ecosystems and our industries to a warmer climate fast enough because of the unprecedented speed at which the climate is changing.

“The sun is the source of the Earth’s heat, so any change in the Earth’s temperature must be due to changes in solar radiation, not human activities.”

This type of statement is generally made by those who admit the Earth is warming quickly but don’t believe humans are the cause. The Earth is heated by the sun through solar radiation. However, if the sun was the only factor in warming our planet, the Earth would be too cold for us to survive on it. To respond to this kind of claim, you should remind whomever that our atmosphere is largely responsible for the warmness of our planet because the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap heat. A skeptic may then ask how we know humans have caused greenhouse gases to increase. Human-caused warming can be illustrated through graphs of the global average surface temperature, which show a continued increase in temperature since the Industrial Revolution (when humans began to emit large amounts of greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels for energy). Countering this claim can be done by looking at any graph of global average temperature in the last century, as these graphs show the increase in the Earth’s temperature has very closely followed the increase in the human activities of fossil fuel burning, deforestation, and other greenhouse gas emitting actions. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to note the IPCC has reported “it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.”

Whether writing about modern climate change or having a casual discussion about it amongst friends, it’s important to not only be aware of the fact that our climate is getting warmer at an unprecedented rate, but also to understand why the large majority of the scientific community is certain humans are the main reason why. Knowing this information can help you discuss and explain global warming and the importance of taking immediate action.