Debunking Common Myths Co2 Sea Levels And The Reality Of Climate

The world is warming at a record pace, with unseasonable heat baking nearly every continent on Earth. April, the last month for which statistics are available, marked the 11th consecutive month the planet has set a new temperature high. Experts say that is a clear sign the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing. But many believe – or at least say they believe – that climate change is not real, relying on a series of well-trodden myths to make their point. “Most of the world rightly acknowledges that climate change is real,” says Dechen Tsering, Acting Director of the Climate Change Division at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “But in many places, misinformation is delaying the action that is so vital to countering what is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity.”

This month, delegates will be meeting in Bonn, Germany for a key conference on climate change. Ahead of that gathering, here is a closer look at eight common climate-related myths and why they are simply not true. Myth #1: Climate change has always happened, so we should not worry about it. Climate misinformation is everywhere. This guide equips journalists to recognize and refute key myths and report the truth. The Keeling Curve, showing the rise in global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since the pre-industrial era.

(Source: Scripps Institution of Oceanography) Scientists the world over agree that climate change is real, it’s happening now, and it’s caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Still, there are a lot of myths being repeated about climate change, and even journalists can get taken in. Most climate change myths have been perpetuated by fossil fuel companies, their political allies, and others with vested interests in the status quo. For decades, they’ve spent millions of dollars on advertising, think tank “studies,” and lobbying to confuse the public, policymakers, and the press and thereby forestall climate action. This has led some journalists to soften their coverage — for example, by not connecting climate change to extreme weather — leaving the public misinformed.

This guide equips journalists to recognize and refute these myths and report the truth. With the climate crisis becoming a hot topic in mainstream media - there's a lot of confusion around what climate change actually is and what's causing it. That's why we've tried to clear up some of the most frequently heard myths, so that you can tell fiction from fact! Over the course of Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history, the climate has changed a lot, this is true. However, the rapid warming we’re seeing now can't be explained by natural cycles of warming and cooling. The kind of changes that would normally happen over hundreds of thousands of years are happening in decades.

Global temperatures are now at their highest since records began. In fact, the 10 warmest years on Earth, since 1880, have occurred since 2014.[1] And just last year, in 2024, our world got hotter than ever before, temporarily going beyond the 1.5C climate threshold... So, when people talk about climate change today, they mean anthropogenic (human-made) climate change. This is the warming of Earth’s average temperature as a result of human activity, such as burning coal, oil and gas to produce energy to fuel our homes and transport, and cutting down trees... You can read more about it here: How do we know climate change is real? Global warming is causing the Earth’s average surface temperature to rise which, in turn, is causing changes in our natural climate systems.

These changes are making all sorts of extreme weather events more likely and more severe, including more intense droughts, heatwaves and hurricanes but also, strangely, an increased potential for more severe cold weather events. It starts with a whisper—rising seas nibbling away at coastlines, warmer winters replacing the cold snaps of old, forests catching fire in places that once stood serene and damp. Somewhere, a polar bear drifts on a dwindling ice floe. Elsewhere, a farmer stares at the cracked, parched earth that once yielded life. And everywhere, people are asking: Is this real? Is it natural?

Is it too late? Global warming. For decades, those two words have hovered in the background of public discourse, growing louder with each passing year. Yet for every scientist shouting the alarm, there’s a social media post casting doubt. Climate change is real, they say. No, it’s a hoax.

It’s human-caused. No, it’s natural. The confusion is not surprising. When fear, politics, and profit collide, the truth often gets buried. But today, we dig it out. Not with shouting, but with clarity.

Not with fear, but with facts. This is a journey through science and storytelling, separating myth from reality, to help you understand what global warming really is—and why the truth matters now more than ever. The story of global warming is ancient, stretching back far before the Industrial Revolution. Our planet’s climate has never been static. It has swung from ice ages to tropical epochs over millions of years, driven by natural factors like volcanic activity, solar radiation, and changes in Earth’s orbit. But something different began in the late 18th century.

Humanity discovered coal, then oil, then gas. We built engines, powered factories, lit up cities, and transformed the world. And in doing so, we began to alter the chemistry of our atmosphere in ways nature never had. As a leader in the transition to clean energy, we receive a lot of questions about the real threat that climate change poses. Here we debunk some of the most common incorrect, yet oft-repeated, climate change myths – to separate fact from fiction. It’s true that throughout earth’s 4.5-billion-year history, the climate has changed a lot.

What is different is the dramatic and unprecedented scale of climate change. The rate of temperature rise is at least 10 times faster than that of the last mass extinction about 65 million years ago, when 95% of marine and 70% of land species were wiped... The kind of changes that would previously have happened over hundreds of thousands of years are now happening in decades. NASA has compiled a scientifically evaluated and compelling list of evidence for rapid climate change.1 This includes: The scientific evidence that climate change is a real, present threat is undeniable. Weather and climate are not the same and a cold spell in winter is definitely not a valid reason to dismiss global warming.

In fact, global warming is making all sorts of extreme weather events more likely and more severe, including more intense droughts, heatwaves and hurricanes but also, strangely, an increased potential for more severe cold... Climate change myths are false or misleading claims that contradict established scientific evidence about global warming and its causes. These myths often spread through social media, certain media outlets, and political discourse, creating confusion about the reality of climate change. Understanding and debunking these myths is crucial for making informed decisions about environmental policies and personal actions. Climate change myths persist for several reasons. Some are spread intentionally by groups with vested interests in maintaining the status quo, while others arise from genuine misunderstandings of complex scientific concepts.

The politicization of climate science has also contributed to the spread of misinformation, making it difficult for people to distinguish fact from fiction. Debunking climate change myths requires a basic understanding of how science works and how to evaluate evidence. Scientific consensus is built through peer-reviewed research, multiple lines of evidence, and the work of thousands of scientists worldwide. When myths contradict this consensus, it’s important to examine the evidence and understand why the myth is incorrect. One of the most persistent myths is that current climate change is simply part of Earth’s natural climate cycles, similar to ice ages and warm periods in the past. While Earth’s climate has indeed changed naturally over millions of years, the current rate of warming is unprecedented in human history.

Natural climate variations occur over thousands to millions of years, but we’ve seen about 1.1°C of warming in just the past 150 years. This rapid change cannot be explained by natural factors alone. Climate change skeptics often argue that our planet’s climate goes through natural cycles and thus, current warming trends are nothing unusual. While it’s true that Earth’s climate has experienced natural fluctuation events like ice ages and interglacial periods, these have typically unfolded over thousands or even millions of years. In stark contrast, the current rate of warming is unprecedented in both speed and scale. Scientific evidence clearly links this rapid change directly to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels.

Combustion of coal, oil, and gas releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, leading to an exponential rise in CO₂ levels. This rapid increase traps heat, much like a thick blanket laid over the planet, causing temperatures to soar at an alarming rate. Unlike natural cycles, which allow ecosystems time to adapt, this rapid human-induced change poses severe challenges for the planet. A popular claim among climate change deniers is that global warming paused or stopped in 1998. This argument largely stems from a misunderstanding of short-term climate variability versus long-term trends. The year 1998 saw an exceptionally strong El Niño, a natural climate pattern that raised global temperatures temporarily.

However, short-term fluctuations do not negate the long-term trajectory of climate warming. When looking at comprehensive climate data over the decades, the upward trend is unmistakable. Studies show that each of the past four decades has been warmer than the previous one, proving that global warming continues unabated. The notion of a pause is a misrepresentation of data, transformed whenever temporarily cooling events are misinterpreted as lasting trends. Another widespread misconception is that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is beneficial for plant life since CO₂ is a major component of photosynthesis. However, while it’s true plants use CO₂, an excess can disrupt delicate ecosystems.

Just as consuming too much of any necessary nutrient can be harmful, the same goes for carbon dioxide. Rising CO₂ levels lead to higher global temperatures, extreme weather, droughts, and altered rainfall patterns. All these factors can negatively impact plant growth and agriculture, threatening food security for billions. Instead of nurturing nature, excessive CO₂ stresses it, causing ecosystems to destabilize—a dangerous trajectory for biodiversity and human livelihoods. Historical records show that the Earth’s climate has indeed changed over millennia, but comparing this to today’s changes overlooks critical differences. Previous climate shifts occurred due to natural factors like volcanic eruptions, solar output variations, or Earth’s orbital changes.

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