One climate change denialist has apparently taken to overstating the potential effects of rising global temperatures to prove the threat is too far-fetched to be real.
Rosh D'Arcy (@all_about_climate), an expert and doctoral candidate with degrees in Earth and climate science, easily debunks them all. In June and July, he posted a string of videos on TikTok to go behind the curtain of businessman Dan Peña's claims.
@all_about_climate What sre the real dangers of #sealevelrise #onthisday #climate #science #explained #globalwarming #ocean #debunked #climatechange #environment #savetheworld #planetearth #climateaction ♬ original sound - Rosh
This video was part of a larger debunking of Peña's stances, which seem to be intentionally hyperbolic — perhaps so the unaware dismiss the science-based evidence of prospective future catastrophe at their root.
In it, Peña says: "If the water on the planet is going to rise up 10 feet, that means the southern part of the United States is gone. England is gone."
Rosh pointed out that he lives near the U.K. coast and that it is about 90 feet above sea level.
"To be fair to Dan, he's emphasizing that 10 feet of sea-level rise in 40 or 50 years would be terrible, and he's right," he says. "... But the risk of sea-level rise is more to do with greater areas being exposed to storm surges or sea water encroaching inland into the water table and polluting groundwater.
"So, it's not going to inundate entire countries, but it's still a huge problem, particularly for coastal communities."
Rosh also outlined that the worst-case scenario of 4 feet of sea-level rise in 80 years is "still going to be hugely problematic."
As he showed in another video, humans since the Industrial Revolution have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere by 50%. This and other toxic gases envelop the planet like a blanket, boosting temperatures that are now causing extreme weather events such as floods and wildfires to happen more frequently and with greater severity.
"In simple terms," Rosh says, "the thing we can do is stop pumping billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."
This green transition has begun, with people and businesses adopting electric vehicles and clean energy sources such as solar while cutting back on plastic production and consumption, to name a few examples. But the movement must accelerate, and corporations need to be on board with more than just pledges and placative actions.
Governments can help, too. In the United States, the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act has set a course for the country to take significant climate action. This includes initiatives such as high-speed rail and other public transportation upgrades as well as the elimination of super pollutants and carbon dioxide pollution. Still, it's just a first step.
The science is clear: We must continue to act now and even push into uncomfortable territory.
"People complain that some green policies are too expensive, & they also don't want lifestyle changes," one commenter wrote. "But taking inadequate action will cost us £trillions & cause mass extinctions of wildlife."
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