• CON

    If you spend time with someone who is sick, You are more...

    Climate change is a fraud

    Well, We've made it to the final round. Let's take one last look at your objections: 1. You said, Quote, "The science profession is a very frivolous profession and is one that the community doesn't need most of the time. " You say this while typing on an electronic device built by science, Probably in a building which was designed by engineers using science. If you drive a car, That car was built by science. If you ever need an operation or an artificial limb or some other medical treatment, It will be science-based. Science does not need to "invent" disasters to be useful. You'd be hard-pressed to find a problem can't at least try to solve. The solution to overpopulation may be to colonize other planets. The solution to plastic pollution may be to find biodegradable alternatives. Science works, And you rely on it everyday. As far as your claim that science is a sort of Illuminati dictatorship, I see no evidence this is the case. Anyone can go to college, Get a degree in science and pursue a career in the field. 2. I did not say nuclear weapons could warm the Earth the way global warming does; I said they could lead to the extinction of all life on Earth. Even though this is not climate change, It still debunks your claim that humans cannot affect the environment because the world is so much bigger than us. We can destroy life with nuclear fallout, And we can warm the globe with greenhouse gases. 3. Since it's not the topic of the debate, I won't spend too much time on your coronavirus hoax claim, But I will note that your notion of all disease being caused by a bad diet cannot account for contagion. If you spend time with someone who is sick, You are more likely to get sick yourself. That doesn't work if your diet is what makes you sick. It also doesn't explain why some people test positive for viruses like COVID-19 while others test negative, Or why doctors require patients to be tested for the virus before major operations. (I had an operation recently and was required to be tested before I could receive it. ) 4. You seem to be under the false impression that there can only be one cause of climate change and causes cannot be interdependent. You also don't seem to have considered that some causes are direct while others are indirect. You're right to say that without the sun, There would be no global warming. (There would be no life at all, But we'll ignore that detail for now and assume humans could still emit greenhouse gases. ) However, You are not correct to say that because the energy which heats the Earth comes from the sun, Humans have no effect on HOW MUCH of that energy stays on Earth. Let's examine the greenhouse effect: The sun emits shortwave radiation, Which the atmosphere is transparent to, Including greenhouse gases. Upon reaching the Earth, That energy's wavelength decreases to change from visible light to heat. At this point, The sun has NO EFFECT on what happens to this energy. The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, However, Do. CO2, Methane and water all absorb the shortwave radiation in their particles, Which have a high energy storage capacity, Before reradiating it in all directions, Most of which lead back to Earth. 5. Yes, Clouds can make a hot day cooler. However, Clouds are not made of water vapor but rather liquid water droplets attached to airborne dust and particulates. This means the clouds do not allow shortwave radiation to pass through like water vapor. Regardless, Clouds cooling off a hot day is an example of weather, Not climate, Being affected. Weather refers to conditions at a specific moment in time. Climate is a long-term pattern, Usually spanning at least 30 years. Whatever light passes through the clouds will convert to heat and be absorbed by the water in the atmosphere when it reradiates. Closing statement: The evidence that climate change is real is overwhelming. Among the numerous attribution studies which have been done, Perhaps the most exhaustive was by the IPCC. They examined the effect of multiple factors which could contribute to the recent warming period, Both natural (volcanoes, Solar radiation, Milankovitch variations in Earth's orbit and tilt) and anthropogenic (aerosols, Changes in land use affecting the albedo (reflectivity of Earth's surface), Human-emitted greenhouse gases). It was found that the only factor which came close to explaining the recent warming trend was greenhouse gas emissions; without factoring their effect in, The climate should be effectively stable right now and perhaps even getting cooler. In fact, The contribution of greenhouse gases is so strong that it could effectively explain the recent warming trend on its own, With NO other factors considered (although this would predict a slightly more rapid warming that we see because, Again, The other factors lead to a net cooling). Therefore, Climate change is definitely real, And humans definitely contribute to it. We have it in our power to find solutions to it, But this debate is not about which ones we should or should not employ. It's just about the objective fact that it is happening. Best of luck to you, My opponent. I've done all I can do. It's now in the hands of the judges.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Climate-change-is-a-fraud/1/