Climate Change Science vs. Political Rhetoric: A Critical Analysis
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Environment & Ecology (Climate Change, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - IPCC, International Conventions and bodies like UNGA).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (International Relations): The role of international bodies like the UN and the impact of the policies of major powers like the US on global issues such as climate change.
General Studies Paper 3 (Environment): Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment; Climate Change. The science of climate change and the political debates surrounding it are a core GS3 topic.
Essay: Topics on Climate Change, Science vs. Politics, and Sustainable Development.
Key Highlights from the News
In a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), US President Donald Trump alleged that climate change is a "hoax" and that scientists are untrustworthy.
He mocked scientists, claiming they first spoke of "global cooling" and then, when that failed, started talking about "global warming."
The article refutes these arguments:
It has been scientifically proven that the minor cooling during the 1945-70 period was caused by sulfur pollution released from burning coal.
Global warming is not a phenomenon where heat increases uniformly everywhere. Instead, the more accurate term "climate change" is used because it is a larger phenomenon that makes the climate more unpredictable (increasingly erratic weather) by altering ocean currents and other factors.
Such speeches dismiss decades of research by authoritative scientific bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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