–              Shailendra Singh Rao, Founder of Creduce

One of the American Presidents once called climate change a hoax during a public talk while he was still in the office in recent years. But his opinion on the subject did not come from an isolated corner. It echoes a larger issue with the crisis that concerns our drastically decaying global climate. The response against climate collapse from policymakers remains tepid in many parts of the world. It is this tendency to dismiss the legitimacy of climate change concerns that has triggered a war between generations. Climate change has become one of the most under-discussed yet over-talked concerns, all at the same time. While in some nations it has become a political tool, for many it is also an urgent matter concerning survival.

Here are the top five myths about climate change that have surfaced in mainstream spaces in recent years.

Climate change is natural and does not call for global concerns

While a lot of people globally have come together to voice their discontent regarding the inaction of policy-makers against climate change, many also believe that this is not really a problem. Examples to back up such claims include people often picking the examples of the ice ages to argue that the current climate changes are also only routine changes, just like those that happened a thousand years ago. While it may look all-natural, it must be noted humans have never witnessed a situation ever before when climate changes have occurred so quickly and on such a large scale.

There is not much that a single individual can do

With utter disbelief, this notion dismisses the value of individual actions that do affect the climate conditions. It may be true that pinning it all down on mere individuals is wrong in a world full of structural flaws. But it is through the actions of these individuals that climate justice becomes relevant bit by bit. The world we live in is complex in terms of access to alternatives that are more climate-conscious. However, the point is to keep trying and keep participating.

Volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters are responsible for climate change

There is a widespread tendency to blame the climate collapse concerns on natural calamities and disasters. While pinning the cause of climate change on something like a volcanic eruption or a landslide, which is routine in the hilly regions during the monsoon, people forget that very often, it has been humans triggering climatic imbalances. It is humans that have caused them and not the other way around. Putting the blame on such volatile events to escape active participation is not helping the human population in the race against time to save the climate.

Third-world nations are the reason for a possible climate collapse

One of the many scapegoats of the climate collapse debate has often been developing nations like China and India. China is blamed for being one of the major polluting nations because of its industrial production. India too has often been considered as being careless about climate change concerns. But it is in fact the developed nations in the global West that dump all of their e-waste as well as their textile waste for cheap costs in these countries. The reason developing nations are polluted is because of the irresponsible waste disposal methods that are used by the more influential nations to rid their own toxic pollutants.

There is no time to save the climate collapse

It is estimated that there would be a rise of over 2 to 4 degrees in global temperatures by the end of the century. It is definitely overwhelming, but not entirely impossible to reverse the fast-ticking clock of damage if the human community comes together. One of the most ambitious aims that require a great lot of community support is to reach the zero carbon emission goal by the year 2050. So, while the time is ticking, this collapse is not irreversible if communities come together to reduce carbon emissions.