An interview with a professor of atmospheric physics.

I: Professor, thank you for joining us today. There are many myths around climate change. Why do people believe all those fake stories?

P: They are afraid. Climate change is the biggest challenge humankind has ever had to face and people are worried that they will have to sacrifice their personal comforts to address it, which is actually true. Without all hands on board we won’t be able to stop it and survive as a species.

I: Can we try to debunk some of the myths and conspiracy theories which have mushroomed around climate change?

P: Sure. Let’s start with a commonly repeated opinion that it’s not us. What I mean by that is the myth regurgitated by climate change deniers that warming and cooling of climate has happened many times in the history of the Earth and the current one, just like the previous ones, has nothing to do with human activity. Or even if it does, our contribution is negligible. I have some bad news for the supporters of this theory. We have many and varied empirical proofs that our actions have caused and are speeding up the processes of climate change. The results of many measurements from numerous studies conducted by means of different methods, are all showing the same values. The fact that man is responsible for climate change has been proven beyond any doubt by many experiments conducted on the Earth and from the satellites around it.

I: Well, ok, so climate change is real and we have caused it. Some people still say that it won’t be so bad and we may even benefit from it. Is that true?

P: Unfortunately not. Our models clearly show that gains will be very limited in terms of people who will be able to enjoy them and their value for those lucky ones. Most changes resulting from climate change will be very detrimental to large groups of people. Even a minor increase of temperature will mean widespread losses for agriculture, water resources, and, as a result, for the global economy. With the global temperature going up, with each subsequent degree, the damages will be more and more serious. At the moment we are fighting not to let the global temperature go up by 2°C, as that will be a significant problem. A growth of 4°C will be catastrophic.

I: There still are many people who are very reluctant to accept the fact that it’s anthropogenic COIndeks dolny 2₂ that is mainly responsible for the currently happening climate change, and they point out that volcanos or cattle produce more carbon dioxide than mankind.

P: It’s looking for a scapegoat while science shows something quite opposite. In the case of volcanoes, it’s all measurable and that’s what scientists have done. Here are the numbers. Volcanoes, underwater and the ones on the surface of the Earth together, release about 0,3 billion tonnes of COIndeks dolny 2₂ per year, which is less than 1% of the emission of this gas produced by humans in the process of burning fossil fuels. The situation with cattle is slightly more complicated as to estimate what the net COIndeks dolny 2₂ emission resulting from meat production is, we have to take into consideration such elements as deforestation and changing these terrains into pastures, feed production, transportation, etc. All these aspects account for about 18% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases emission. Anthropogenic, because it’s our appetite for meat that leads to its production.

I: That’s not a small number. But, I guess, we could easily reduce it by cutting down on our consumption of meat and going vegetarian.

P: Absolutely. Last but not least, let me add my pet peeve. Chemtrails. Some particularly diehard proponents of conspiracy theories have had a brainwave that the condensation trails left on the sky by planes are part of the geo‑engineering project, run by the global government, whatever that means, aimed at controlling the weather. Allegedly, chemtrails contain chemical and biological substances which can change climate, or help governmental agencies control people psychologically. I assure everyone, there is no such thing as chemtrails. The white smudges we can see behind planes flying above our heads are water condensation trails, kind of mini clouds created by the engine exhaust. The only connection between planes and climate change is the hefty amount of COIndeks dolny 2₂ that is produced as a result of every flight.

I: I hope we have explained a few interesting questions connected with climate change. Professor, thank you very much for your participation in the discussion.

P: Thank you for having me.

Autorka: Anna Posyniak‑Dutka