FACT CHECK: Is Climate Change Real?

Some of us believe that climate change and sustainability concerns are new issues. This may be because, historically, these topics have received little news coverage over the years.

But why is this? These are such critical and pressing issues today.

Here’s one answer:

Around two years ago, MSNBC, the cable news network, reported they lose viewers whenever their newscasters discuss climate change and sustainability.

Because the revenue and profits of a network depend on the number of viewers they have at any given moment, it is understandable they do not prioritize news reports on these issues.

However, climate change is not a recent phenomenon but a long-standing concern. For decades, researchers have been reporting on the causes and effects of global warming; however, their published conclusions have varied considerably.

The Remarkable Weather of 1911

“The year 1911 will long be remembered for the violence of its weather. Spring opened mild and delightful, but a torrid wave [of heat] of unapparelled severity swept the country in June. The cities baked and gasped for breath while the burning sun and hot winds withered corn and cost the farmers a million dollars a day.

In August, the elements took a different turn, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. Kentucky and the South Atlantic states were deluged, and the Philippines was more thoroughly drowned than they had been since the time of Noah.

If the Earth has undergone such remarkable changes in temperature and moisture, what are the prospects for the future?

It may be answered immediately that these climate variations are so slow that there is no prospect for any material change in the lifetime of a single individual or even a nation. It is highly improbable that the average temperature will change in a thousand years. [The climate] will not be much different from what it is at present ten thousand years from now.”

Popular Mechanics, March 1912  

Coal Consumption Affecting Climate

"The furnaces of the world are now burning about two billion tons of coal a year. When this is burned, uniting with oxygen, it adds about seven billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere yearly. This tends to make the air a blanket over the Earth and to raise its temperature. The effect may be considerable in a few centuries.”

New Zealand’s Rodney and Otamatea Times, August 14, 1912.

Eddy’s Theory of Heat

“These epidemics of hot weather are increasing in frequency and intensity, and the quantity of carbonic dioxide is increasing in the air. During the ages when plant life prevailed, natural laws removed vast quantities of [carbon] from the air. During the last fifty years, man has cut into these natural storehouses…which threatens a revolution of ‘hot epidemics’ on Earth.”

G.W. Furey speaking about the theory of global warming, 1901. (See below: What's an "eddy?)

As we can see, climate change has been a topic of debate for many years. Some experts and studies have warned that it is a severe problem that could affect the survival of life on our planet, while others have challenged its existence or reported its evolution is so slow, it is not worth being concerned about.

These different views were held not only by the public but also by some of the top scientists and policymakers of their day.

Even when this research is “right on the money,” it has often been ignored.

In 1938, a British engineer, Guy Stewart Callendar, presented evidence suggesting that the Earth had warmed by about 0.3°C since the late 19th century. He argued that this warming was caused by the increased greenhouse effect resulting from human activities.

Callendar predicted that this warming trend would continue and could eventually lead to the melting of the polar ice caps and rising sea levels. He was right in all his predictions, but his findings were again ignored.

Today, most of us accept that climate change is real, evolving, and one more thing, it is up to all of us to address it now.

As always, I welcome your thoughts below.  That’s how we learn together.

Steve Ashkin is CEO and founder of The Ashkin Group; an internationally recognized consulting firm working to green the professional cleaning industry and help organizations implement effective and cost-effective sustainability programs.

To contact Steve, click here.

What's an Eddy: An eddy is a circular current of water in the oceans that can form due to various factors, including climate change. Eddies can have significant effects on weather patterns, such as influencing the formation and intensity of hurricanes.