Weekly Competition #40
12 July 2019WINNERS ANNOUNCED:
fantastic_duck and logical_fish
Well done to our two winners this week! Logical_fish was concise and covered several reasons. Fantastic_duck thought about how important it is to check our assumptions and use reasoning to show others the truth.
WEEKLY COMPETITION #40
Some people don't believe climate change exists.
Can you be open-minded and think about the climate emergency from this perspective? Why might they think this, what are their reasons, and is there any evidence to support this point of view?
Winners will be announced on Friday. Good luck!
Comments (31)
If people think that climate change isn’t happening I say oh so country’s are getting tsunamis and forest fires because of the earth and not because of climate change. Those people reduce your bin throwing and plastic bag pollution and see if there’s a difference because there definitely IS!
in my opinion that climate change is just like sustainability but a bit worse such as emissions, water and electronics and coal fumes
A person who I know of who is denying climate change is Trump. This is my perspective...
Humans are going through suffrage because of something they didn’t do. Why should they suffer if the weather temperatures are going high. The world is now getting warmer because animals could be doing something to change the earths long term weather patterns. Or it could even be gods. Many religions have many gods who they worship. What if the weather god is just trying to have a laugh and make us go through hardships. Humanity is not the cause of the extreme weather patterns as they can’t control the weather. Some people may say that climate change is happening because us on the earth are increasing our carbon emissions by transportation, deforestation, electricity and so on. But I do not understand how increasing the carbon emissions can make the wold warmer.
Only gods can control weather. Not humanity.
I think that people are saying that Climate change isn't humans fault because from their prospective they might think that it just might nature doing it, for example in some places in the world today place that have a hot climate can have wild fires in the forest or the city. So, because no humans caused is that might make them think that humans aren't doing it but nature is. However in my opinion I think that that it is equally our fault to because we are the one pumping out pollution with our vehicles also because we also are using too much carbon dioxide and plastic pollution ,similarly natures cause the stuff like wild fires to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which is bad.
I think that if people think that climate change isn't happening then they have to think again. Forest fires, tsunamis and ice melting wouldn't all be happening for no reason. Climate change is making it happen. These people obviously need to just go outside and see the difference in the world and how it is changing because of climate change.
Those are all natural disasters they have even been happening before Climate Change became a thing.
And also ice melting does happen in the polar regions when it turns into summer you have a point but I think you forgot the part where you say it is increasing. I mean your tsunami part kinda did make sense because global warming causes a majority of things including earthquakes (of which trigger tsunamis sometimes). So technically like I said the only thing missing in your theory what so ever was the part where you say they are happening more than before.
Over the past few hundred years, there has been a steady increase in the numbers of sunspots, at the time when the Earth has been getting warmer. The data suggests solar activity is influencing the global climate causing the world to get warmer. this is because of the sun, not humans. Because of where we are, the UK & Ireland are likely to get more rain and wind as a result of climate change while New York will see more snow. And plants need the co2 to survive so its not that bad People are just saying that climate change is happening so the public will buy renewable energy and they can make money. Its a scam! everyone knows how people are about making money these days. Climate change can't just be happening now as its a future problem. Even if this was true, the world cant end yet! The Earth hasn't even been fully explored yet! And lastly, if humanity was at fault, China is the country that should be suffering. They produce billions of products daily that produce tonnes of carbon emissions. So they should be in trouble, not us.
Some may deny that climate change is an ongoing problem due to not realising how it affects their personal life. Climate change may not seem like a huge issue as it isn’t affecting each person individually and because of this it isn’t being accepted in larger and more powerful groups, such as leaders of countries of which can make a change and edit their laws on things like use of plastic and exchange it for more environmentally friendly materials.
Some may deny climate change is an ongoing problem due to not realizing how it affects their personal life.This makes everyone really annoyed because not everyone cares so this leads to a bigger problem in the near future please take responsibility and make climate change now!!! Thanks For Reading
One reason why some deny that climate change exists is because of their own personal experiences. Those who live in the American Midwest might point out that they still have snow and ice in the winter. As the weathers they witnessed stay the same, they assume that climate change can't exist because it would otherwise change their experiences. Those who believe in climate change point out that the seasons did change in recent years. Those living in the American Midwest may notice that winters are a little milder and that summer starts earlier and feels hotter and more humid.
Some people (for an example, President Trump) may think that climate change is not a real issue is because the weather hasn’t been peculiar in their country or effecting them. Like, if we’re talking about global warming, it might be raining/snowing where they are. But global warming/climate change is about the globe overall. And actually, the Earth has increased it’s overall temperature by 1° in the past year.
People may think the weather is changing due to natural disasters such as hurricanes and wind etc. They may also be listening to fake news or not be watching the news and not being educated about climate change so may not fully understand the reasons behind it. Additionally, some people may not have access to the news, like the people in Myanmar, due to their living conditions so will not have the opportunity to learn like us.
Some people think that climate change is not happening. Some people, like Trump, would think that it’s just Mother Nature doing its job, controlling the weather. Others may think that the increase in weather is due to the natural disasters that we are facing. But mostly, people have been thinking that climate change is not real because they either:
Don’t know what it is
Been hearing fake news
Too afraid to face facts
And so on..
But actually, there is a huge amount of people that, say they see a fire, they know that they didn’t light the fire, so they think that it’s not their fault. Everyone knows about the pollution in our country. Some may think that because they don’t drive cars and create pollution, they are not the reason behind climate change, even if they know they use electricity often.
Some may deny climate change
some people may deny that climate change is happening as we are 'apparently' doing enough to stop it and as 'logical fish' said they think that the weather is changing due to natural disasters. also people are too scared to admit that climate change is happening.
they are afraid that the climate emergency is too good to be true
some might just not want to take blame for a big issue
people might think that climate change is not real because they are afraid of such a tragedy being real. that they refuse to believe it is happening. Another reason that people don't believe in it is that they this we are too small and insignificant to be causing such a large amount of damage to the planet.
If they are non-believers in human climate change, then they must be working in an industry that might be severely affected and face losses from the actions that are used to fight against climate change, for example the fossil fuel related industries.
To tackle this we might want them, to try the processes to tackle climate change(for 6 months) and see the results themselves.
This way we are giving them physical proof that climate change is actually happening.
if I did not, somehow, have the ability to watch the news, or get hold of information the way I can now, ( like many unfortunate people throughout the world) I would probably believe that climate change was due to natural causes; and I hate to say this, I probably wouldn't notice. In some countries, floods, hot weather and forest fires are usual to them, so they wouldn't think much of it. whereas some people have not been affected by it yet, so again, they wouldn't think much of it.
But, where I am fortunate to live, I can watch or read news whenever I please, so i know the causes and effects of this disaster.
thank you for using your time to read this! Enjoy your day.
The world is deteriorating. Why? Because of climate change, what else could it be? The weather is changing. Why? Because of climate change, what else could it be? The seas are full of plastic. Why? Because of pollution, what else could it be? The world isn't just changing of its own accord. If people don't realise it isn't natural, then they really need to listen to scientists and politicians who know what they are talking about.
They may deny this because they follow the masses like a sheep and may idolise deniers like Donald Trump
One automatic assumption that people make about those who don’t believe in climate change is that they are nasty or don’t care about others or the planet, that they are choosing to ignore climate change just because they don’t want to change their current way of life. Maybe, for a very small amount, this is true, but for most it is not. These people aren’t purposely ignoring climate change, they genuinely don’t believe it is real. They want the best for their planet and their family, they just genuinely believe that climate change is not real and so would think that being vocal about their doubts is in their, their family’s and the planet’s best interests.
So why do they genuinely believe that climate change isn’t real? There is one main problem causing it: misinformation. We form our beliefs based on what we hear, what we see and what we experience. Therefore, those people who have these opinions have just been hearing purposely incorrect information, blatant lies, hurried assumptions or some information that is missing context or only one side of the story. If people are being fed these inaccuracies and lies as the truth then of course they doubt climate change. It is so easy to feed incorrect information out there. We have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and the World Wide Web, all sites and methods that can be edited or contributed to by anyone with any intentions. And with all the sharing and the number of people these sites can reach, one little lie can spread to millions, within weeks, or days, or even hours.
It is the same as anti-vaxers. These are parents who love and care for their children and so want the best for them, and with all the misinformation out there, these parents, scared for the effects of a vaccination choose to not vaccinate their kids. They believe that avoiding all vaccinations is in their kids’ best interests and so they choose not to vaccinate them, not being aware of the potentially fatal consequences.
My point I’m trying to make is that these people are doing what they honestly believe is right. They are doing what they think is best for themselves and those that they love and that it is because of fake news and misinformation that they believe something that might have the opposite affect to what they are wishing, and end up harming them and their loved ones. In today’s world where it seems everything and everyone is online, you can find information to justify anything. And with so much online, it is sometimes hard to know what to believe. Even if some of the information those who are against global warming are consuming is ‘true’, the ‘facts’ are likely not to be the entire picture. For instance, I could try to justify a statement of 100% of people believe pineapple should not be on pizza. I could hand out this to people I know who hate pineapple on pizza, ending up with everyone ticking the ‘pineapple should never be on pizza’ box. It’s an admittedly silly example but it demonstrates my point: that you can justify almost anything, if you interview the right people or look in the right places. This even works for theories like the flat Earth. Some of their theories make sense if you ignore proven, solid, scientific evidence. You can ignore the truth or only get one side of the argument. And if you only see one side, you are likely to believe that.
If we want persuade those who doubt climate change, we need to show them solid facts; not bash them for their views, but show them the blatant lies of what they are believing. We need to give them the facts, and expose the lies and their one-sided ‘truths’. If we call these people ‘idiots’ or ‘dumb’ then of course they don’t want to hear what we have to say. We need to accept their opinion is valid, as all opinions are but ultimately we need to ensure that people are believing and seeing the right information, that they are taking in real facts, not twisted, inaccurate ones and we need to ensure that we can justify why climate change is real, justify our argument and make sure it is stronger than their’s is.
People who deny climate change are wrong. Although I do not agree with them, I need to be respectful of the viewpoint. Furthermore, if I was in there shoes I would think this because I would not like to take the blame and I have such good story-telling skills that everyone will listen to me if I tell them a story about climate change. To add to this point, I think in some cases do not want to believe that they have done something wrong and so they deny whatever they do not like. If I was a person who denies I have got anything to the fault of climate change, I would maybe want to fix my ways and be a better person by telling the truth.
I can see where they are coming from because it is meant to be get hotter in the world but still it is raining and really cold in some places. Also it is only happening to some countries in the world and the rest of the country’s believe it is there fault that there country is suffering.
Even though I believe that people are the main cause for climate change I have recently had to do research in my school about climate change and found out that even though we are one of the main problems for the cause of climate change, there are just as many natural causes of climate change. For example, solar activity. Sunspots are dark patches that appear from time to time on the surface of the sun these cause solar flares. When these sunspots are at their maximum activity the sun gives off much more heat which is melting the ice caps.
Another natural reason for climate change is cows. Did we create cows? The answer is no. Cows emit a lot of methane which is one of the gasses that make up the greenhouse gasses and these gasses damage the world’s atmosphere.
I think thats some people don't believe in global warming because they are scared that it's an issue, for example Donald Trump said "right now we're the cleanest we've ever been and thats important to me."
We are scared to admit that we're doing something wrong. Many business men and women want money and keep lots of secrets. For example they put mica in make up that kids dig up from the ground in India. Oil is a big problem because it makes lots of money and it is extremely bad for the environment people lie to make more money and stop their bad habits. The amazon rainforest holds 8O% of our oxygen and 6O% of our land animals. People are cutting down trees to make room for farm land, they are not looking at the future. It can also be because they have not been shown what global warming really is.
I think some people might think that Climate Change isn't or problem as in some places people already have a hot climate so it won't be a change to them, because the degree has gone up by 1 only.. Although, in cold places it will be a change for them as it will get warmer. Also, some people might not believe as they haven't seen tornados etc.. If we have an example( Donald Trump) he still doesn't agree that this is real as he hasn't seeing yet .But still the Earth is getting warmer. The Amazon Rainforest is now getting the trees cut . The Amazon Rainforest has 80% of our oxygen and they are just cutting the trees down.
For some people, to say that Climate change is not taking place and proclaiming that it is not our fault that Climate change is occurring can be seen as really unreasonable and untrue. However, these people that have these sorts of ideas within their minds perhaps have rather valid reasoning. It is entirely wrong for one to say someone that have these certain and specific beliefs, that they are wrong and being ridiculous. If you think about perhaps they have the exact same amount of reasoning that back up their point that one could have in order to say that humans are the one to put to blame.
One can clearly and strongly argue that we aren't the people to blame about climate change because perhaps everything is not our doing, perhaps it is simply the doing of nature. It has been scientifically proven that volcanic eruptions, in fact, effect the earths climate and whether or not volcanic eruptions happen is not actually down to us. Orbital changes occur, this means that the distance between the earth and the sun changes over time so therefore, sometimes the earth is closer to the sun than it was this will conclude in more long wavelength radiation coming to the earths surface. This all naturally leads up to climate change. Also there is an issue around cows linking back to agriculture and how they release methane, one can argue that cows will exist anyway whether or not agriculture happens, yes there may be a reduction in the full amount of cows but they will still exist and are a type of animal. Some religions may in fact contradict the idea of climate change so therefore, religion can sometimes prove that climate change is not happening. People that are fully committed to their religion will not question the idea that climate change is not happening they will just go along with it. Many places aren't educated enough about climate change these could be developing countries such as India, in countries such as India the idea of climate change may not necessarily be prioritised. Depending on what country you live in politicians may influence one and swerve them into a certain mind set and direction. A valid example could be that in America, Donald Trump is their president he fully believes that climate change is not happening and that it is fake. One reason a to why he may have this thought could be due to how his country is one of the main countries effecting climate change therefore, he denies because he doesn't want his country to be put to blame. Unfortunately, fake news is a rather big issue right now people are fooled and tricked into believing things that are not in fact real at all. One example is when people were proclaiming and that the Holocaust had never happened. This could potentially be happening with climate change people could be saying that climate change is not happening and it will never happen. A you can tell there are many point that prove that it is perhaps not humans making climate change happen and that there many natural occurrences that conclude in climate change . There is also thorough reasoning as to why people may begin to have thought that human activity is not resulting in climate change, there are so many things that make human think in a certain way, people get influenced.
However, on the other hand once can argue that there is a lot of human activity that concludes in global warming and one reason is burning fossil fuels. We need to burn fossil fuels in order to have our coal. Coal unfortunately, plays a rather big role in our lives so it is seen as a necessity. Deforestation is something that we do as humans and this plays a big role in going towards climate change. However, as humans right now it is rather hard to put a full stop to deforestation as much as we think that we would like to it is a difficult change. Trees absorb and reduce the amount of CO2 in the air so when we get rid of trees we in fact are increasing the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere. We use plastic almost every day, well most of us do and that I terrible due to the fact that it all leads up climate change.
From my personal viewpoint I would for sure have to admit that climate change is happening and sadly we are the ones contributing towards it. However, I do fully understand how many people do in fact may not believe that we are not the ones contributing to climate change and that it is not happening but I do believe that it is a misconception that must be fixed.
Being open-minded, if I were a person who denies Climate Change and thinks that Climate Change is not caused by human activities, I would think in my head:
“I’m not going to live up to the lifetime of when considerably Climate Change even happens; it will probably only happen in a very long time of years and it will not affect me.
I believe there are three different ways we can think about this problem:
A. Polluting Earth by itself beyond human control
B. Polluting Earth by human control
C. Polluting Earth from outside matters
Polluting the Earth by itself beyond human control:
Not all facts and evidence shows that the humans have been creating Climate Change; Climate Change itself has already been going on for thousands of years. In addition, the Earth has survived throughout all of the hot temperatures when the dinosaurs first roamed all the way to the freezing ice age, plummeting to -50°C. So why not now? There has been hotter years before and the Earth has still been able to survive.
In my opinion, the cleaner source of energy that the humans are required to use is wind turbines, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy or solar panels. However, in these ways as well as natural causes, gradually Climate Change will happen; but these methods are not cheaper at this stage. For example:
Wind turbines under 100 kilowatts cost roughly $3,000 to $8,000 per kilowatt of capacity. A 10 kilogram watt machine (the size needed to power a large home) might have an installed cost of $50,000-$80,000 (or more). Wind turbines have significant economies of scale. The costs for a utility scale wind turbine range from about $1.3 million to $2.2 million per MW of nameplate capacity installed. The average price per watt for solar panels ranges from $2.67 to $3.43, and solar panel costs for an average-sized installation in the U.S. usually range from $11,214 to $14,406 after solar tax credits. It is extremely expensive and it would be better not spend my hard-earned money on an alternative source of energy that I could already create.
Polluting the Earth by human control:
Burning vast amounts of fossil fuels in short periods to make high amounts of non-biodegradable plastic, making great productions of unwanted items in factories -such as dyes for textiles- in a brief period and producing immense amounts of vehicles (which burns fuels in short periods of time) creates lots of greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases produced makes Climate Change happen quicker than normal. The greenhouse gases made are more carbon dioxide the Earth can intake, more than the normal amount the Earth usually intakes; it is not used to this much carbon dioxide intake, causing Climate Change, which will affect humans, animals and their habitat with rapid damage but slow recovery. Nevertheless, we have to deny this quick pollution happening because the Earth will recover itself gradually. The only bad thing is that the people living in the quick pollution period will have consequential damage done to the Earth (affecting them as well) as the Earth is in its adaptation and recovering phrase. For example, if you had never hurt yourself and you suddenly injure your foot very badly, lots of damage will be done however, your body still tries to adapt with this gradually and your foot heals at the end.
There is evidence that the interior of East Antarctica has been gaining more sea ice, the average temperature of 1998 is 16.7°C meaning that global warming has probably already stopped recently. Animals have been adapting fine to Climate change for example, they shed their fur when they are in the summer to stop them from growing hot, have reduced body fat, plants have spikes in order for a reduced surface area, which equals to less heat, less activity, meaning they can sweat less, burrowing, tolerating higher temperatures and store water and nutrients in their body such as a camel storing water in its humps.
Polluting Earth from outside matters:
With careful consideration, in our Earth, it already has Climate Change materials such as Nitrous Oxide, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Methane, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Hydrofluorocarbons and more. Nevertheless, these only existing gases in the Earth are factors of Global Warming and Climate Change; they will recycle slowly the Earth itself back to normal. If we receive these elements from outside the Earth (from the universe), then we can be scared of permanent Global Warming and Climate Change can happen but that is not the case. Therefore, we do not have to be scared of Global Warming and Climate Change.”
https://news.energysage.com/how-much-does-the-average-solar-panel-installation-cost-in-the-u-s/
http://www.windustry.org/how_much_do_wind_turbines_cost
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recorded_history
https://skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice.htm
A person who I know of who is denying climate change is Trump. This is my perspective...
Humans are going through suffrage because of something they didn’t do. Why should they suffer if the weather temperatures are going high. The world is now getting warmer because animals could be doing something to change the earths long term weather patterns. Or it could even be gods. Many religions have many gods who they worship. What if the weather god is just trying to have a laugh and make us go through hardships. Humanity is not the cause of the extreme weather patterns as they can’t control the weather. Some people may say that climate change is happening because us on the earth are increasing our carbon emissions by transportation, deforestation, electricity and so on. But I do not understand how increasing the carbon emissions can make the wold warmer.
Only gods can control weather. Not humanity.
People may think the weather is changing due to natural disasters such as hurricanes and wind etc. They may also be listening to fake news or not be watching the news and not being educated about climate change so may not fully understand the reasons behind it. Additionally, some people may not have access to the news, like the people in Myanmar, due to their living conditions so will not have the opportunity to learn like us.
I have had great fun making up all these sarcastic reasons. I do feel, however, that some people will believe and think like this about the Climate Emergency. Whether these are simply excuses people may use not to recycle or take part in any protests, I do not know.
(Sorry if this sounds a little harsh!)
This is how I feel they might think:
“Climate change is a myth. We all know this, deep down. Some of you people listening may have been struck with dread by the fact that the fear-mongering government and corrupt scientists who have been brainwashed into thinking that climate change is “real” and is “happening now”, or some other superstitious nonsense. It’s just that though; nonsense.
Take changes in sea level. They have been banging on about how the warming of the atmosphere causes rises in sea levels. It’s been countless decades since they first started predicting this, but here we still are!
And where does this rise in sea level supposedly come from – melting glacial ice? Like there was any point in massive blocks of ice just floating around in the ocean anyway? To be perfectly honest, I don’t know how people believe this stuff!
For an example, let’s take ice tea. Make your own; tea, then let it cool. Plonk some ice cubes into it, and see how long it lasts (mind you, at the end, you’ll have a watery tea). And we’re meant to believe these “ice caps” lasted millions of years. They’re honestly not even trying to be convincing any more.
Don’t get me started on the supposed case of “mass extinctions”. I mean, as if that’s got literally anything to do with the myth of the climate “emergency”. Listen, as harsh as the fact is, many species go extinct. It’s just part of nature. Maybe get that fact right before you start accusing us of wiping those poor animals off the face of the Earth (if that is even what this Planet is called, at this rate).
Oh, and on the subject of accusing people, Dinosaurs went extinct millions of years before us “pesky” humans ever appeared – are we meant to take the blame for THAT too?!”
Please note: content_lemon does not agree with the above claims at all; this is just for the Weekly Competition #40 for BNC!