Is climate change hype larger than reality?

‘Climate change isn’t an ‘issue’ to add to the list of things to worry about, next to health care and taxes. It is a civilisational wake-up call; a powerful message; spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions; telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet telling us that we need to evolve.’

Though the scientific community largely; agrees that climate change is underway, discussions about this issue remain fiercely polarized. Hence this debate in which these conversations have become a verbal contest, one; where the opposing side tries to achieve victory by playing on fear, distrust, and intolerance. At its heart, this split no longer concerns carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, or climate modelling; rather, it is the product of contrasting, deeply entrenched worldviews. And I wish to add my voice to this debate by saying that climate change is real, not hype.

David Attenborough pointed out;

‘There is no question that climate change is happening; the only arguable point is what part humans are playing in it.’

Climate change is so much so a reality that it topped the agenda at the United Nations General Assembly in previous years. Pressure was mounted on world leaders to rapidly ratchet up efforts to fight global climate change.

UN-Secretary General Antonio Guterres said ahead of the General Assembly meetings. ‘We are on the verge of the abyss and we cannot afford a step in the wrong direction.’

The UNGPA’s focus on climate change comes at the end of another summer of disasters related to extreme weather, including devastating wildfires in the western United States, deadly flooding in the US, China, Pakistan, and Europe, a drumbeat of killer tropical cyclones worldwide, and unprecedented heat waves everywhere.

Humanity needs to grow up and deal with the issue of climate change, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. He slammed the world’s inadequate response to the climate crisis and urged humanity to listen to the warnings of scientists.

‘We still cling with parts of our minds to the infantile belief that the world was made for our gratification and pleasure,’ he said. ‘And we combine this narcissism with an assumption of our immortality. We believe that someone else will clear up the mess because that is what someone else has always done’ he added. ‘We trash our habitats, again and again, with the inductive reasoning that we’ve gotten away with it so far, and therefore, we’ll get away with it again. My friends the adolescence of humanity is coming to an end and must come to an end.’

During his speech, Boris Johnson said, ‘I invite everybody to follow the example of Imran Khan of Pakistan who has pledged to plant 10 billion trees.’ He highlighted Pakistan’s 10 billion trees project and asked everyone to follow the example of his Pakistani counterpart.

‘10 Billion Trees Tsunami’ was a five-year project which was kicked off by Former Prime Minister Imran Khan in September 2018 and was aimed at minimizing environmental losses and countering the effect of climate change.

David Suzuki very aptly said;

‘Doing all we can to combat climate change comes with numerous benefits, from reducing pollution and associated health care costs to strengthening and diversifying the economy by shifting to renewable energy, among other measures.’

With so much evidence of climate change, depleting natural resources, toxic waste, irreparable harm to our food chain, and rapidly increasing instances of natural disasters, why do we keep perpetuating the problem? Why do we continue marching at the same alarming beat?

In the end, I would like to leave you with these words by Kofi Annan.

‘We seriously have to question the motivation of those people referred to as climate change sceptics, who are denying the evidence of human-caused climate change and preventing us from moving forward by spreading disinformation and supporting unchecked carbon pollution.’