The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) recently unveiled a graph displaying how the Earth has usually experienced colder temperatures throughout human history compared to far older periods of Earth’s history where it experienced much higher temperatures, before humanity even existed. This was found by scientists who studied air bubbles that were trapped in the ice cores, and helped provide us with clues as to how warm the planet used to be compared to today.
A Reddit user, Solvanic, recently pointed this out at the start of a recent post entitled “My favorite climate change fact that will blow liberal’s minds.” They used this as proof that any doomsday or apocalyptic prediction concerning a rise in the Earth’s temperature is drastically overblown because, for most of Earth’s history, average global temperatures have been much hotter.
As you can imagine, Solvanic’s post ignited a firestorm of debate. Here are the key takeaways and questions that I had after reading the thread:
1 – Are Apocalyptic Climate Change Predictions Over the Top?
Solvanic does not deny the existence of climate change, but they do call out all climate-related doomsday scenarios that we often hear about as being downright pretentious. “As usual with over-politicized subjects,” Solvanic writes, “the truth requires nuance and pleases neither extreme.”
2 – That Should Open the Door to Good Middle Ground Debate
That approach, at least theoretically, should open the door to more common sense debate. After all, we should all be able to agree that we want the Earth to be well taken care of since, technically, it’s where we live. As user Stea1thsniper32 stated, “Earth is our only home and if we screw up here, we don’t have anywhere else to go…It’s just a question of how to do it in a way that doesn’t cripple our economy.”
3 – Or Does Neither Side Have A Solution?
A since deleted Reddit user made a statement that I think a lot of people (especially those who may not fall on either side of the political spectrum) have been feeling for some time now: “I don’t believe either side actually has a solution. Politics ruined common sense for this topic.” Nonetheless, even if that’s where you stand as well, that doesn’t mean that we can’t ask questions that don’t go to either extreme. One such question that we could ask is…
4 – What Would Happen if Temperatures Rose Again?
Even though the Earth has already been significantly hotter before people arrived on the scene, do we want to risk going back to those temperatures? As one since deleted Reddit user wrote (in reference to the NOAA graph), “Humans don’t appear on that timeline until 5 million years ago – well into the cold blue period on the far right. It’s moronic to suggest that we should just sit by and let temperatures soar to what they were in dinosaur times.” This naturally begs the question…
5 – Even If the Earth Has Survived Hotter Temperatures Before, Can People Survive Hotter Temperatures Today?
Sure, the Earth has endured much hotter temperatures before if NOAA’s data is correct. But does that mean that civilization would be prepared for a world with hotter temperatures? According to Limacharley, “The problem isn’t really the temperature, but the rate of temperature increase…The effect will be that ecosystems will have a hard time adapting fast enough, and many plant and animal species will go extinct. The biggest issues for people will be a change in what land can be framed and how many people can be supported in different places.”
6 – Should Conservation Be Put Back Into Conservatism?
The idea was posited by user RightBear, who also suggested that rising temperatures would be fine for the Earth itself but not necessarily for humanity. “Earth will be fine. Continents and rocks won’t care much,” RightBear writes. “I’m more worried about the effects of changing climate on ecosystems, especially at a time when wild spaces have been shrinking. We should put the “conservation” back in conservatism.”
7 – Are Temperatures Even Rising Enough To Be A Threat in the First Place?
But are temperatures going to even rise to the point that it poses a threat to humanity? Another since deleted Reddit commenter points out that the Earth’s temperature has always been fluctuating, and questioned whether a rise in temperatures would have any meaningful consequences that we would feel in our daily lives.
8 – Could Small Temperature Changes Make A Big Difference?
User ChungBull seemed to think so. “Even small degrees in temperature changes can cause dramatic and severe changes to our planet that can not be undone,” Chungbull writes. “Even if you don’t believe in climate change, we should be trying to live more sustainably especially since fossil fuels are a limited resource and eventually we have to use something else.”
9 – So Is Burning Less Fossil Fuels The Way To Go?
It’s certainly a common talking point that we should be burning less fossil fuels as part of a greater effort to be more sustainable. But user Big_Z_Diddy questioned if there is a viable alternative. “Yes, burning fossil fuels hurts our environment, causes cancers, and other methyl-ethyl bad stuff,” they wrote. “But the mining of lithium for EV batteries is far more damaging (on an immediate level at least) than the burning of fossil fuels.” If true, this naturally begs another question…
10 – How Effective Are Other Supposed Environmentally Friendly Practices?
Big_Z_Diddy didn’t stop there. “Solar farms only produce energy during the day….Wind farms take up HUGE amounts of space, typically used for farmland, meaning less land for crops… wind mills themselves pose a massive risk to migratory birds and bats….Hydro-electric dams cause issues for fish that need to travel upstream to spawn.”
11 – What About Nuclear Power?
Several users commented on nuclear power as a form of renewable energy. Big-Z-Diddy suggested that while nuclear power is arguably the cleanest form of energy in the immediate short term, nuclear waste is still extremely toxic and there are also significant risks in regards to catastrophic accidents is significant as well. So all that being said…
12 – Is There A Perfect Answer To Our Energy Needs?
Big-Z-Diddy summed up their views as such: “The long and short is there is no perfect answer to our energy needs. Each solution brings its own problems.” So if each potential energy solution brings forth its own unique set of environmental risks, what’s an ideal solution?
13 – Maybe One Step Forward Is To Not Totally Replace Existing Technology
User Bale626 suggested that pushing for a total replacement of existing technology with ‘clean’ solutions only politicizes the debate rather than making any meaningful changes. “The problem isn’t the pursuit of alternate sources of power, or in cleaner energy used in vehicles,” Bale626 writes. “The problem is the politicization of the topic, and pushing for total replacement of existing technology with under-tested and ill-prepared ‘clean’ solutions that are neither ready by themselves, nor have the upgraded infrastructure to support them.”
14 – Banning Gas Cars, For Example, May Not Solve Anything
As an example of how completely replacing current technology with ‘clean solutions’ may not be a wise move, Bale626 cited how California wrote laws to ban gasoline-powered cars, only weeks later to plead with people to not use electricity between 4 to 9 PM to ensure that the power grid is not overdrawn.
15 – Can We Protect The Environment While Protecting Personal Freedoms?
Big_Jim59 asked the question that even if the rise in temperatures is man-made, why do several of the proposed solutions have to involve a surrender of personal rights and freedoms to the government? He also mentioned the irony that governments around the world are among the worst polluters that are known to exist in the first place. Fair point…
Feel Free To Chime In!
There’s a lot to think about here, but to start, do you agree that climate change is happening? If so, is it (or could it be) a threat to the way we live today? What solutions do you think would be viable but too overlooked?
Feel free to tell us what you think below!
Source: My favorite climate change fact that will blow liberal’s minds.
