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Temperature changes of just a couple of degrees can't hurt us: after all, temperatures fluctuate 10s of degrees on most days!





Brief Responses to Climate Change Denialism Statements

CPSG 200 Science & Global Change Sophomore Colloquium

Temperature changes of just a couple of degrees can't hurt us: after all, temperatures fluctuate 10s of degrees on most days!

That is true, temperatures do fluctuate most days, which is completely normal. However, global temperature change, specifically warming in our case, can have detrimental effects to our climate (it is important to understand that day-to-day weather patterns and long-term climate change are not synonymous). While a ten degree fluctuation between Monday and Tuesday may not be a big deal to you, an increase in average yearly temperatures by as little as 4-degrees C (as demonstrated in the business-as-usual model for climate change, in which none of our current behaviors change) over the next 30 years could devastate the population. For instance, a 4-degrees C increase could result in 50% loss of US forests/vegetation, while over 40% of coniferous forests will be replaced with savannas due to droughts/wildfires, according to the Ecosystems study Climate Change Effects on Vegetation Distribution and Carbon Budget in the United States.

If you are unconvinced by the environmental perspective, a global-health perspective may persuade you... As described the peer-reviewed study Economy-Wide Estimates of the Implications of Climate Change: Human Health, this tiny 4-degree C temperature change could exacerbate heat-related health issues, particularly for older people, increase water insecurity/scarcity, cause extreme weather patterns, and increase the incidence of vector-borne, water-borne, and food-borne disease.

However, if this is still not enough to convince you, these warming temperatures will also have adverse effects on global food security. Other research suggests that under this same scenario, crop yields will decrease by 30-46% on a global average, intensifying food insecurity worldwide. So yes, while a fluctuation of temperatures from day to day are normal and will not overall affect our planet, the net global warming of our planet can have catastrophic effects on our environment, our economy, and our health.


For More Information:
Bachelet, D., et al. 2001. Climate Change Effects on Vegetation Distribution and Carbon Budget in the United States. Ecosystems, vol. 4: 2001 164-185. doi: 10.1007/s10021-001-0002-7
Bosello, F., et al. 2006. Economy-Wide Estimates of the Implications of Climate Change: Human Health. Ecological Economic, vol. 58: 579-591. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.07.032 . Working hotlinks to online resources and to published papers on the topic encouraged.


Contributed by: Ella Burroughs, Madi Bryant, Benjamin Lee

Last modified: 21 October 2018