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By Vivek Saini
Claim: NASA has admitted that Earth’s solar orbit is the reason behind climate change, not the burning of fossil fuels.
Fact: Misinformation. The direct emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into Earth’s atmosphere due to burning fossil fuels or other anthropogenic activities is the leading cause of the planet’s recent warming.
Claim post:
What does the post say
A Viral post dated 28 June 2023 by the Twitter user @KagensNews spread misinformation regarding global change. The photo shared by this Twitter handle says that “NASA admits climate change occurs because of changes in Earth’s solar orbit, not because of SUVs and fossil fuels”. Twitter user also used #Climatescam in the tweet.
What we found
The post is Misleading, It’s the other way around, and it has been found that Despite widespread messages on social media suggesting this, the National Aeronautical and Space Agency (NASA) did not proclaim that climate change is only caused by the Earth’s orbital location around the sun. With over 75% of all greenhouse gas emissions and almost 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions coming from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, they are the most significant cause of climate change in the world.
What triggers climate change?
Long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns are referred to as climate change. Such fluctuations may be brought on by significant volcanic eruptions or variations in the sun’s activity. But since the 1800s, human activities—primarily the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas—have been the primary cause of climate change. The heat from the sun gets trapped on Earth due to greenhouse gas production. Global warming and climate change result from this. The rate of global warming is presently higher than it has ever been. Weather patterns shift due to warming temperatures, which also upset the natural order. This puts us and all other life on Earth in grave danger.
Fossil fuel combustion produces greenhouse gas emissions that blanket the planet, trapping heat from the sun and increasing temperatures. Carbon dioxide and methane are the primary greenhouse gasses responsible for climate change. These are produced, for instance, while burning coal or petrol to heat a building. Carbon dioxide can also be released when woods and land are cleared. The primary sources of methane emissions are oil and gas production and agriculture. The key sectors that produce greenhouse gasses include energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture, and land use.
Anthropogenic drivers of the climate change
The Earth’s surface is currently around 1.1°C warmer on average than in the late 1800s (before the industrial revolution) and warmer than it has ever been in the previous 100,000 years. The last four decades have been warmer than any decade since 1850, with the most recent decade (2011–2020) being the warmest on record.
Climate scientists have demonstrated that over the past 200 years, almost all of global warming has been caused by humans. The earth is warming faster than it has in at least the last two thousand years due to greenhouse gasses caused by human activities, and such significant activities have been discussed below:
- Generating power
Burning of fossil fuels to provide power and heat accounts for a sizable portion of world emissions. Burning coal, oil, or gas still supplies the majority of the world’s electricity, which produces carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, two potent greenhouse gasses that cover the planet and trap the sun’s heat. A little over a quarter of the world’s electricity is generated by renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and other natural resources, which, in contrast to fossil fuels, create very little to no greenhouse gasses or other air pollutants.
- Manufacturing goods
Emissions from manufacturing and industry are primarily the result of burning fossil fuels to create energy for producing items like textiles, electronics, plastics, cement, iron, and steel. Some products, including plastics, are manufactured from chemicals derived from fossil fuels, as are many of the machines used in manufacturing. These machines frequently run on coal, oil, or gas. One of the leading global producers of greenhouse gas emissions is the industrial sector.
- Cutting down forests
In order to build farms, pastures, or other purposes, forests must be cleared. When trees are cut down, the carbon they have been storing is released into the atmosphere. Forests are destroyed on a scale of 12 million hectares annually. By absorbing carbon dioxide, trees help nature keep emissions out of the atmosphere. Thus, cutting them down reduces that ability.
- Transportation
Most automobiles, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. As a result, transport is a significant source of greenhouse gasses, particularly carbon dioxide emissions. The burning of petroleum-based goods, such as petrol, in internal combustion engines accounts for the majority of the contribution. However, emissions from ships and planes continue to rise. Transport contributes to approximately a quarter of global energy-related CO2 emissions.
- Food production
Food production emits carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gasses in a variety of ways, including deforestation and clearing of land for agriculture and grazing, digestion by cows and sheep, the production and use of fertilizers and manure for growing crops, and the use of energy to power farm equipment or fishing boats, which is typically done with fossil fuels. This adds up to food production being a significant cause of climate change.
Intense droughts, water scarcity, destructive fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms, and declining biodiversity are currently some of the consequences of climate change.
Every increase in global temperature matters
Thousands of scientists and government reviewers agreed in a succession of UN reports that limiting global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C would help us avoid the worst climate impacts and maintain a livable environment. Nonetheless, current strategies indicate a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century.
Climate change emissions come from worldwide and affect everyone, although some countries create far more than others. In 2020, the top seven emitters (China, the United States of America, India, the European Union, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and Brazil) accounted for roughly half of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
Significant climate change effects that have been experienced all around the globe are discussed below:
- Hotter temperatures
Each decade since the 1980s has been warmer than the previous one. Hot days and heat waves are becoming increasingly common over nearly all land areas. Heat-related illnesses become more common as temperatures rise, making outdoor labour more challenging. When temperatures are hotter, wildfires start more easily and spread more quickly.
- Severe storms and cyclones
More moisture evaporates as temperatures rise, exacerbating intense rainfall and flooding and resulting in more devastating storms. The warmer ocean also affects the frequency and severity of tropical storms. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons feed on warm ocean surface waters. Such storms frequently demolish houses and communities, resulting in deaths and massive economic losses.
- Increased drought
Water availability is changing due to climate change, making it scarcer in more places. Global warming exacerbates water scarcity in already water-stressed areas, increasing the probability of agricultural droughts damaging crops and ecological droughts, making ecosystems more vulnerable.
- Warming and rising of the oceans
The ocean absorbs the majority of the heat emitted by global warming. Over the last two decades, sea warming has increased dramatically at all depths. Because water expands as it warms, the volume of the ocean rises as it warms. Melting ice sheets raise sea levels, endangering coastal and island people.
- Health risks
Climate change is the single most serious health threat confronting humanity. Climate change is already causing health problems through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, mental health strains, and increased hunger and poor nutrition in areas where people cannot grow or get enough food.
- Poverty and displacement
Climate change exacerbates the variables that cause and maintain poverty. Floods have the potential to devastate homes and livelihoods in urban slums. Working outside in the heat might be difficult. Crops may suffer as a result of water constraints. Weather-related incidents displaced an estimated 23.1 million people annually during the last decade (2010-2019), leaving many more vulnerable to poverty. Most refugees come from nations that are the most vulnerable and least prepared to deal with the effects of climate change.
References:
- https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
- https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/
- https://www.unep.org/interactive/six-sector-solution-climate-change/
- https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/2020-was-one-of-three-warmest-years-record
- https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/outreach/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SummaryForAll.pdf
- https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change#collapseOne
- https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/resources/press/press-release
- https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/
- https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022
- https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/40932/EGR2022_ESEN.pdf?sequence=8
- https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
- https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change#collapseTwo
