Opinion: Five climate change science misconceptions - debunked

Professor Mark Maslin (UCL Geography) writes about common climate change myths and explains how each can be disproven. The science of climate change is more than 150 years old and it is probably the most tested area of modern science. However the energy industry, political lobbyists and others have spent the last 30 years sowing doubt about the science where none really exists. The latest estimate is that the world's five largest publicly-owned oil and gas companies spend about US$200m each year on lobbying to control, delay or block binding climate-motivated policy. This organised and orchestrated climate change science denial has contributed to the lack of progress in reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - to the point that we are facing a global climate emergency. And when climate change deniers use certain myths - at best fake news and at worse straight lies - to undermine the science of climate change, ordinary people can find it hard to see through the fog. Here are five commonly used myths and the real science that debunks them.