User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 18/Truth/Truth in climate change

Defining climate change as a discipline

Climate change is a field of environmental science which is a discipline that focuses on the study of our environment and seeks to find solutions to various environmental problems. As this discipline is interdisciplinary, the study of climate change is now seen as a new academic field in its own right. According to the NASA, climate change is defined as “a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates".

An objective truth based on scientific studies

There is ample scientific evidence that the process of climate change is occurring. Quantitative facts, including statistics published in scientific studies, show this. The vast majority of experts agree that the Earth's surface temperatures are rising steadily and that the main cause of this phenomenon is human activities. According to the Intergovernmental Pan on Climate Change, evidences are “unequivocal”. A good example of this is the NASA statistic showing that temperatures have risen by 1.14 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s. Climate change could thus be described as an absolute truth. And yet this is impossible since there is much debate about the existence of this phenomenon.

Current debates on climate change

Although quantitative evidence exists, some deny the existence of climate change. This is called climate change denial. The most radical, and therefore rather rare, position is to deny the existence of climate change. However, the modern debate today is more political and popular: questions are being asked about the causes and consequences of the phenomenon as well as the actions that should be put in place. Indeed, the response to climate change is sometimes closely linked to political parties. US President Donald Trump is a very good example of this, as he says that this is just a myth. The debates are also linked to economic and financial issues, since implementing environmental measures has an extremely high cost. Moreover, climate change is a global issue and thus countries need to cooperate, which leads to new debates and negotiations. A well-known example is the Paris Agreement signed in 2016 by 196 countries to reduce their polluting emissions: while it has for the most part been a success, the uncertain commitment of the United States shows that there is still much to be done. Finally, part of the difficulty in disentangling the true from the false in these debates stems from the media and the extent of misinformation and fake news on the subject.

Climate change thus appears to be a perspectival truth: scientists objectively demonstrate its existence, but many question different aspects depending on their perspective.