The United Nations released an environmental report on Friday that set a maximum limit on the amount of CO2 that should be in the atmosphere, according to the New York Times.
Although the UN said there is a 95 percent certainty that climate change is caused by humans, there are some who doubt the nearly-irrefutable evidence, according to the New York Times.
As a result of climate change doubters, the conversation on how to slow or reverse climate change has been delayed.
With approximately half a trillion tons of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, the UN report predicts that the atmosphere will have one trillion tons of greenhouse gases by 2040, according to the New York Times.
While most of the report provides evidence of human-caused climate change, some climate change doubters will point to the part in the report that discusses uncertainties about their results.
According to the UN report, some of the data indicates that the warming of the planet has slowed down in the past 15 years.
Some uncertainties in the data come from lower than projected temperatures and a wider variance in the rising sea levels, according to the New York Times.
The report also claims that if current greenhouse emissions go unchecked, sea levels could potentially rise by as much as three feet.
The environmental conversation seems stuck on the effects of climate change — whether or not it’s actually happening.
But this conversation is redundant. Numerous studies have shown that climate change is indeed happening.
We should instead be discussing climate change prevention and ways to reverse global warming.
According to the report, the Earth’s temperature could increase by as much as 3.6 degrees by 2040, according to the New York Times.
President Barack Obama’s science adviser John P. Holden said that “the kinds of harm already being experienced from climate change will continue to worsen unless and until comprehensive and vigorous action to reduce emissions is undertaken worldwide,” according to the New York Times.
If the world is to fight against climate change, the national conversation should turn to climate change prevention.
As the data continues to prove climate change doubters wrong, all that’s left to support the doubters’ claims is baseless rhetoric.
The conversation on prevention should be equal parts science and compassion, as conservation efforts should aim to preserve climate and wildlife conditions.
Nicolas Rodriguez is a senior political science major and the assistant opinions editor at the Daily 49er.
