40 Pics That Show Climate Change Is No Joke

"To me, the biggest challenge isn’t converting those who continue to deny anthropogenic climate change—it’s how to best translate growing acceptance of anthropogenic climate change into political and legislative action. I think that there are a lot of people who now believe that anthropogenic climate change is real, but feel powerless to do anything about it," Dr. Pierre said.

We all have a part to play in saving Planet Earth. However, action on an individual scale is minuscule and needs to be supplemented by multinational corporations radically changing their business models.

"While we can all do some small part as consumers, the reality is that real change has to come from the fossil fuel industry acting against its immediate self-interests in order to steer us away from future disaster," the UCLA professor told Bored Panda. Dr. Pierre believes that companies that contribute to the climate crisis the most are very likely aware of what they're doing but haven't admitted to it yet.

"Like the tobacco industry, there’s good evidence that Big Oil believes that anthropogenic climate change is a reality, but refuses to acknowledge it publicly. That’s not true denial, it’s deception. Which means that change won’t happen unless there’s legislative action on a global scale. If we don’t demand that as citizens and voters, it won’t happen."

According to Dr. Pierre from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, there are different types of climate change denialism. Some of them have different causes. The professor was kind enough to walk us through it all. 

"To start with, research has also shown that attitudes about climate change are related to 'naïve realism' based on our own personal experience of the weather. We tend to be insensitive to data from around the world or what’s going on with glacial melts in favor of what we experience in our own lives."

He explained: "Personally experiencing record-breaking heatwaves and flooding tends to increase belief in climate change, but cold winters can have the opposite effect."

What's more, we're less aware of small changes that happen over long periods of time. Dr. Pierre noted that the comparison to boiling frogs is actually very accurate. "And since we all experience a diurnal variation of at least 20 degrees F’ on any given day, it’s hard to imagine why climate change scientists are saying that a predicted increase of just a few degrees of mean global temperature could spell mass disaster for the planet."

More and more people believe that climate change is real. Unfortunately, there's a hitch. Not everyone believes in the idea that it is 'anthropogenic,' caused by human beings by burning fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. The UCLA professor says that this idea is less widely accepted. And it's all due to a misconception that there's supposed widespread disagreement between scientists on this matter.

"This is partially due to lack of awareness about just how many climate change scientists agree that anthropogenic climate change is a reality and the associated misperception that there’s disagreement on this subject. Reviews of published literature, as well as polls, have consistently shown that consensus among climate change scientists about anthropogenic climate change is 97% or higher," Dr. Pierre noted.

"Although it’s true that some 'scientists' have gone on record refuting anthropogenic climate change, studies have shown that the more expertise on the subject of climate change, the more consensus. In other words, while some who refute climate change might have a science background, most aren’t actually experts—they aren’t climate change scientists who are actively working and publishing research in the field. Note also that the idea that anthropogenic climate change isn’t settled science is a deliberate disinformation strategy that has been funded by the fossil fuel industry going back decades."

What's more, climate change denial can be attributed to partisan motivated reasoning, according to Dr. Pierre. He stressed to Bored Panda that in the United States, it's political orientation that is one of the strongest predictors of climate change denial. So, for example, conservatives and Republicans tend to be more likely to deny anthropogenic climate change than liberals and Democrats.

"That divide is much wider in the US than it is in many other countries and climate change denial is tellingly more common in countries that are major oil producers like the US and Saudi Arabia," the professor noted.

"Rather than this being explained by conservatives being 'anti-science' per se, it suggests that climate change denial is largely about what has been called 'solution aversion'—an unwillingness to curb fossil fuel production because it will hurt one’s wallet—whether we’re talking about a blue-collar working the coal industry, a politician with significant campaign donations from Big Oil, or Big Oil itself," he suggested that economic interests make up a significant part of this denial.

"On an unconscious level, this can also be explained by cognitive dissonance—when faced with the psychological discomfort that arises by acknowledging that we are the cause of worldwide calamity, motivated denial of anthropogenic climate change can make that discomfort go away."

Apathy, cynicism, greed, straight-out denial, and distrust in science are some of the biggest obstacles that prevent Planet Earth from tackling the climate crisis with its full focus and might.

And now, more than ever, is the moment when we have to come together and fight climate change on all possible fronts, at all costs. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the situation is very bleak: the crisis is accelerating so rapidly, there’s only a narrow window left to avoid the worst of the worst.

According to The Guardian, some of the things that each and every single one of us can do to help the planet include eating a largely plant-based diet with healthy portions and no waste, as well as greatly reducing the amount of new clothing we buy each year.

Something else to focus on is using electrical products for as long as possible without upgrading. Tom Bailey, the founder of The Jump campaign, also urges people to limit their flights, get rid of cars if possible, and insulate their homes better.

The Insider points out that it’s far too late to avoid many of the weather changes already afflicting our planet, including what’s to come. What we’re talking about now is mitigating the damage and the fallout. There are plenty of things that individuals, companies, and nations can do to help protect the environment and humanity.

For example, one thing that nations can do is upgrade, improve, and adapt their power grids so that they can avoid power outages, as the climate becomes more and more unpredictable. This might mean running power lines underground in areas that are susceptible to fires or elevating them in places that are in danger of getting flooded.

This can also be the moment when nature becomes more closely integrated with dense urban areas. Urban forests could help cool cities down by merging grey infrastructure with everything that’s green and natural.

What’s more, there’s no doubt that the global food industry will have to continue to adapt. Hardier crops that can survive long periods of drought and torrential rainfall will have to be bred. Meanwhile, livestock will have to be given better living conditions to protect them from the elements. However, millions of people will still face food and water shortages, as they do now.

According to the recent IPCC report, there isn’t an inhabited region on our planet that won’t be affected by rising temperatures and increasingly severe weather. Meanwhile, roughly half of the global population (from 3.3 to 3.6 billion people) currently live in areas that are classified as being “highly vulnerable” to climate change.

The report also warns that we’re already seeing massive die-offs of species, from trees to corals. As the global temperature continues to rise, some ecosystems are also turning from life-saving carbon sinks into carbon sources because they’re losing their ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

At this rate, entire families might have to consider the hard truth that they might want to consider relocating to less risky areas, with better access to resources, fewer dangerous weather events, and away from the rising sea levels. However, in the meantime, each and every single one of us has a responsibility on our part to help mitigate the disaster that is the climate crisis. There’s no plan B, nor is there a planet B. It’s a matter of integrity, morals, and survival.