{"id":2044,"date":"2017-05-10T14:23:02","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T14:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/?p=2044"},"modified":"2017-05-10T14:23:02","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T14:23:02","slug":"challenging-climate-change-deniers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/2017\/05\/10\/challenging-climate-change-deniers\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenging Climate Change Deniers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justin Mungal<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it, climate change is not just a debate, but a fierce fight for survival.\u00a0 Those who reject 97% of scientists\u2019 claims that human-driven carbon emissions are causing significant and catastrophic global warming are not merely \u201con the fence,\u201d but rather vehemently opposed to what they categorize as conspiracy theory.\u00a0 Any evidence that has more than a zero percent chance of speculation is utterly rejected by the group.\u00a0 It is time to move the debate from scientific claim to scientific fact, where no ounce of speculation can be contorted into an \u201calternative fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The journalists at Futurism have created \u201cFive Graphics to Start a Conversation About Climate Change.\u201d The first set of images depict what the majority of people believe, and that is that combined atmospheric temperatures are exponentially rising at alarming rates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While, this should be convincing enough, I no longer find it useful as climate change deniers claim that it represents normal fluctuations and that the correlation of rising CO2 emissions with these temperatures does not imply causation. This shred of speculation between correlation and causation collapses the debate into a stalemate, and so I believe that we must move the discussion into the realm of absolutely non-contentious facts.<\/p>\n

The second set of images simply shows the rising rates of C02 emissions due to cement, gas, oil, and coal and its corresponding partitioning into the atmosphere and oceans.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This graphic is powerful because there is absolutely zero speculation and thus no room for debate.\u00a0 Correlation and the (high) likelihood of causation are left off the table, and what remains is an impressive graphical representation of the massive amounts of human generated CO2 and its absorption into land, air and water.<\/p>\n

The third graphic simply explains the science of how CO2 in the ocean can acidify its waters.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Again, there is no speculation of causation, it is merely a statement of scientific fact around the chemistry of water and CO2.\u00a0 Effectively, this builds upon the second graphic, to raise the question of what impact our CO2 emissions can have on earth\u2019s oceans.\u00a0 The question is answered in the third graphic by the description of a chemical reaction summed up in the equation Dissolved C02 + Water \u00e0 Carbonic Acid.\u00a0 Again, there is no ambiguity or speculation \u2013 just solid scientific fact.<\/p>\n

The fourth graphic shows how long C02 stays in the atmosphere after its initial pulse.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Seventy percent of pulsed C02 remains after one hundred years and forty percent remains after one thousand years.\u00a0 Again, the graphic is not intended to show speculative correlation or causation, but rather clearly and accurately represents the fact of C02\u2019s lifetime in the atmosphere.\u00a0 Essentially, once CO2 is pulsed, it stays in the atmosphere for a very long time.\u00a0 Coupled with graphics two and three, we see a picture of the massive amounts of C02 being emitted threatening the pH balance of our oceans for a long time.<\/p>\n

The fifth graphic depicts projections of what earth\u2019s climate might look like in the years 2081-2100.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/futurism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/5-climate-future-ipcc.jpg<\/p>\n

The projections depict a boiling world of monsoon rains and ocean covered lands.\u00a0 I could imagine that such a world would be barely, if at all, inhabitable by humans.\u00a0 However, even I as a climate change believer<\/em>, find this image difficult to digest.\u00a0 I know that scientists find it difficult to predict the weather for a given week, so how accurate can hundred year projections be?\u00a0 I do not deny that such predictions are possible considering our current global warming trends, but forecasting that far into the future seems spurious and, given the rash skepticism of the opposing side, non-provocative.<\/p>\n

For the majority of us who believe in the work of climate scientists, graphics one and five are panic inducing.\u00a0 We believe that the rising global temperatures are abnormal and humanly caused.\u00a0 Moreover, the idea that the earth may not be humanly inhabitable for long if we continue on our current trajectory is not farfetched.\u00a0 These two images capture that scientific consensus frighteningly well.\u00a0 However, the purpose of this article, and I believe the necessary debate, is with those who reject such claims for the improbable claim that the overwhelming evidence of correlation does not imply causation.\u00a0 That is why I am far fonder of graphics two, three, and four in terms of moving the debate forward.\u00a0 They clearly and simply depict measurements and chemical reactions.\u00a0 They cannot be negated as they do not contain any speculation over causation, are repeatable, and provable.\u00a0 Thus, they can be starting points for serious debate over the current state of climate affairs and the ominous threats they imply.<\/p>\n

What I would do to improve the graphics is include more visualizations like graphics two, three, and four.\u00a0 Those engaged in the fight of their lives \u2013 the debate of climate change \u2013 need more ammo that cannot be misconstrued and discarded as circumstantial.\u00a0 To spend more time creating images like graphics one and five are futile, as we know that the counterargument is to negate them as speculation and propaganda.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, we do not have time for visualizations whose validity is debatable \u2013 time is of the essence.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

<https:\/\/futurism.com\/five-graphics-start-conversation-climate-change\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Mungal Let\u2019s face it, climate change is not just a debate, but a fierce fight for survival.\u00a0 Those who reject 97% of scientists\u2019 claims that human-driven carbon emissions are causing significant and catastrophic global warming are not merely \u201con the fence,\u201d but rather vehemently opposed to what they categorize as conspiracy theory.\u00a0 Any evidence … Continue reading Challenging Climate Change Deniers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1998,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"justinmungal","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/author\/justinmungal\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"Justin Mungal Let\u2019s face it, climate change is not just a debate, but a fierce fight for survival.\u00a0 Those who reject 97% of scientists\u2019 claims that human-driven carbon emissions are causing significant and catastrophic global warming are not merely \u201con the fence,\u201d but rather vehemently opposed to what they categorize as conspiracy theory.\u00a0 Any evidence…","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1998"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2045,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044\/revisions\/2045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dataviz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}