Climate Change - Increasing Accessibility of the Divisive Topic
- David Nyquist
- 10 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Climate change has been occurring since the dawn of time. However, in recent times, the scientific understanding of climate change has expanded to include the negative human-mediated effects of pollution, ocean acidification and other factors. This new definition is somewhat different from the normal changes in climate that have occurred and are evident during different times of earth’s history (IPCC, Hansen et al, NASA, Steffen et al, Le Quéré).
In our modern day, much confusion exists around the subject of climate change. Politicians can’t seem to agree if it is even happening - the media portrays it through polar lenses: either as the immediate doom of the earth or an unimportant natural occurrence. Needless to say, it is becoming crucial to be able to navigate media and politics surrounding all topics, especially climate change. The aim of this post is to help readers understand the complexities of climate change and navigate understanding it. Here are a few perspectives and mindsets to do so.
Scientists now expand the concept of climate change to include the anthropogenic (or human-mediated) effects of the industrial revolution on the atmosphere, ocean and land. This new and rapid climate change has been occurring since the industrial revolution, or about 200 years, and is evident in sea levels rising, increased global temperatures (exceeding normal climate changes) and the increasing frequency of extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts and floods. Industrial growth has been primarily driven by the use of fossil fuels. Burning gas, coal and oil has released about 1.5 to 2.4 trillion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, raising the concentration by more than fifty percent, from 280 ppm (parts per million) in pre-industrial times to 421 parts per million as of May 2022 (IPCC, 2021; Friedlingstein et al., 2022). A more recent report shows that “humans dumped 41.2 billion tons (37.4 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2024, a 0.8% increase from 2023,” (Turner).
Natural and anthropogenic changes are mediated in different ways. With natural carbon dioxide emission, for example through volcanic activity, organic decomposition, and respiration (the release of carbon dioxide from plants through specialized openings called stomata after oxygen is taken in), we see releases of about 770 gigatons per year. This large number is balanced by other natural processes such as photosynthesis (which takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen) and the oceanic carbon cycle (where carbon dioxide is absorbed at huge rates by the ocean and then photosynthesized by organisms using it for photosynthesis). On the other hand, we are seeing 40 gigatons of unbalanced, novel carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by anthropogenic actions. For example, deforestation and fossil fuel use causes a net increase in the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because of the decrease in plants available for photosynthesis and the fact that fossil fuel emissions are not being balanced by natural processes, respectively (Le Quéré et al., 2020).
Scientists agree that climate change is real and is related to the factors just discussed, but understanding those factors can be difficult without a basic understanding of scientific principles, including biochemistry and statistics. For example, popular blogs and articles may misinterpret or extrapolate isolated findings from scientific articles to promote their particular point of view, rather than looking at the study’s entire results, including statistical validity and whether the results agree with previous findings. It is not surprising that readers latch onto false information which is easy to understand and hopeful, including denying climate change, since it is easiest to accept the most positive answer with the least personal impact. As a result, those in the environmental field need to find better ways to explain climate change so people of all educational levels can understand it and become engaged in working toward solutions. Students and those interested in learning more about climate change may need to look up definitions and concepts in order to understand articles that they read.
One example is related to the fact that rising global temperatures increase plant photosynthesis. This is true, and at first glance, might represent strength in the argument that even if global temperatures are increasing, we need not worry about it.
However, the fact is only true to a point. Many plants do increase their photosynthesis rates as temperature increases, but only to a certain point. Beyond an optimal temperature range, plants begin to close their stomata so as not to lose water. This almost completely stops photosynthesis. Many of these scientific terms are confusing and, to understand the argument just made, the reader would need to know terms like stoma, photosynthesis, and optimal temperature range.
Scientific graphs can also be difficult to understand and lead to misinterpretation. Here are a few basic tips:
Tips for reading graphs:
Begin by reading the legend for the graph which should describe the purpose of the graph and the abbreviations.
Identify the x (horizontal) and y (vertical) axis and identify what is being tracked on each axis.
Find the trend in the data. What does the line look like? Are the data points scattered or mostly situated on the line? A line with data points clustered close to it is more likely to indicate a meaningful result.
What do the units tell us? Is the information being measured in very small or large increments? Does it take a very large change in one thing to cause a very small change in another?
Statistical significance indicates that those findings are not related to chance and are likely to be related to whatever is being tested. The article or graph will state which findings met statistical significance.
Make sure to account for breaks in an axis. A break occurs to decrease the amount of unused space in a graph, which can cause figures to look misleading when not portrayed clearly. These are known as a truncated axis or torn graphs.
Be inquisitive! How does the title of the graph compare to the data being presented? Make sure to cross check with other sources.
Most graphs should contain explanations in the text of the article. Read thoroughly.
Even graphs that are presented well and contain accurate information present an opportunity to learn how to challenge the scientific process. Be inquisitive and remain open to new information.
There are many types of graphs including histograms and scatter plots. Each contains its own rules, but these general rules should help to make graphs more legible.
With the current trends in climate change, we foresee that we will pass these optimal temperature ranges and beyond the natural resilience of many necessary plants. For this reason, many figures are not to be misconstrued at a first glance. Just as we see many differing media perspectives in politics, we also see an unprecedented amount of differing takes on climate change on similar platforms. The challenge here is to be able to understand the scientific jargon behind climate change. While many do understand it, there is still industrial incentive to avoid the topic of climate change or to present facts in a misleading way. This example highlights the need to increase our curiosity about climate change and to examine scientific articles in depth before coming to final conclusions.
The 2024 Presidential election also brings in some new challenges to keeping language around climate change accessible. Here are some of the most pertinent changes in environmental policy that might be occurring.
Increased use of non-renewable energy (fossil fuels)
Environmental Regulations being decreased
Climate Change legislation being reversed
During the upcoming years, it is likely that these shifts will be justified by stating the upward economic gain, but these are predicted to be short term financial gains.
For a more in-depth review, please visit UCLA’s article, written by Evan George. UCLA ARTICLE - ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY or visit LAW from the New York Law Journal. These articles quickly summarize key changes in accessible language.
Climate change is quite divisive and environmental protection policies are at risk, making it exceptionally necessary to increase our literacy and communication skills about it (IPCC, 2021).
See the following for evidence representing these statistics and statements:
Works Cited
Friedlingstein, P., Jackson, R. B., Jones, M. W., Smith, A. J., Abernethy, S., Andrew, R. M., ... & Peters, G. P. (2022). Global Carbon Budget 2021. Earth System Science Data, 14(4), 1917-2005. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1917-2022
Hansen, J., Sato, M., Ruedy, R., Lo, K., Lea, D. W., & Medina-Elizade, M. (2006). Global temperature change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(39), 14288–14293. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0606291103
Hickel, J. (2019). Is capitalism compatible with climate stability? Economy and Society, 48(1), 89–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2019.1564057
IPCC. (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2021). Climate change 2021: The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, ... & B. Zhou, Eds.). Cambridge University Press.
Jevons, W. S. (1865). The Coal Question: An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of Our Coal Mines. Macmillan.
Kallis, G., Kostakis, V., Lange, S., & Muraca, B. (2020). The economic case for degrowth. Ecological Economics, 152, 236–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.03.026
Le Quéré, C., Jackson, R. B., Jones, M. W., Smith, A. J., Abernethy, S., Andrew, R. M., & Peters, G. P. (2020). Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement. Nature Climate Change, 10(7), 647–653. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0797-x
NASA. (n.d.). Global climate change: Vital signs of the planet. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/
Turner, B. (2024, November 13). Global carbon emissions reach new record high in 2024, with no end in sight, scientists say. Live Science. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/environment
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