You may have been there many times before: a family dinner or a group discussion when climate change comes up. Suddenly, you hear a myth that sows doubt and creates confusion about the climate crisis. Climate myths can derail a discussion about climate action, creating a sense of powerlessness and division. These myths persist because the stories resonate emotionally. The facts, however, are on your side. This article shines a light on three of the most common climate myths:
- Why should you care about a 2-3 °C warming of the planet? Climate change is part of a natural cycle [1].
- You should be focusing on your individual carbon footprint rather than demanding that leaders hold large polluters accountable [2].
- Climate change is a problem for future generations, so it is too early to act now as taking action will negatively impact the economy [3].
In general, myths validate ideological viewpoints using narratives, such as national myths, which makes them effective emotional tools for social consensus and action. Some myths can be traced to marketing campaigns and studies funded by fossil fuel companies [4].
Myth 1: Climate Change is Part of a Natural Cycle
The natural cycle myth is a half-truth, which makes it particularly sneaky. The problem with the myth of natural cycles is the speed of the current change in global warming and biodiversity loss. Natural cycles happen over tens or hundreds of thousands of years. However, rapid changes to Earth’s climate over the last century are predominantly a result of the extraction of fossil fuels [5].
Global warming is more like a sudden, violent fever affecting Earth’s cycle. Atmospheric CO2 levels are the highest they have been in at least 800,000 years, and most of the change has occurred in the last century [6]. Earth’s atmosphere is a precious resource, the only thin layer within the universe that we know supports life, and should not be treated as a dumping ground for pollution without protections in place.
Climate change has usurped natural cycles. Inuit elders in the Arctic and Indigenous leaders in the Amazon have said that this is not a normal cycle [7]. Indigenous communities have knowledge of the land and weather that stretches back generations. Indigenous communities observe that the ice is not freezing as it should, and the seasons are unreliable. This is not normal; humans rely on climate regulation for our way of life.
Myth 2: Take Personal Responsibility for Your ‘Carbon Footprint’
The carbon footprint myth claims that each individual is personally responsible for their climate-warming emissions. The truth is that the climate-warming emissions of large corporations far outweigh the individual contributions of consumers. Emphasising the importance of our individual carbon footprints unfairly places the onus on individuals instead of corporations.
Although lowering your personal carbon footprint is important, this tactic is rooted in corporate marketing techniques designed to shift responsibility away from large emitters [2]. It was popularized by campaigns initiated by industry giants such as British Petroleum (BP). Although climate-warming emissions are driven by human behaviour, studies of large emitters have found that just 100 fossil fuel producers are responsible for 71% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 [8].
Myth 3: Climate Change is a Problem for the Future
Climate change is a future problem and nothing can be done about it now. This myth is especially harmful to young people who will bear the brunt of climate change moreso than older generations.
These impacts will be felt more severely in certain parts of the world. For example, the climate crisis is already a present reality for farmers in the Sahel region of Africa, where desertification is swallowing farmland and temperatures are rising faster than average [10]. It is also the present reality for families in low-lying island nations like Kiribati and Tuvalu, who are planning for the day their nation will be underwater – an existential threat confirmed by the IPCC [11]. It is also the present reality for communities in Pakistan who experienced a devastating flood in 2022 that was made significantly more likely by climate change [12]. The climate crisis is also an increasing reality for youth around the world who have, by and large, experienced more intense wildfires and record-shattering heatwaves than their parents ever did [5].
