Current mitigation and adaption solves

Claims such as these are exaggerated or simply untrue. Some of this is due to subjective and occasionally questionable interpretation of data, as well as normative objectives. For example, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) uses RCP’s (Representative Concentration Pathways) to model alternative climate scenarios. But the most regularly used scenario, RCP8.5, models the future as though humans were to take no action on climate. While this generates dramatic headlines, it simply doesn’t match reality. Not only does it deny the huge strides being made in the climate world, it denies the ability of humans to take charge and create a better future.

The world is getting better

There are many reasons to think that we are, and can continue, to change our climate trajectory. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol included pledges by the other 50 nations to reduce Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s). Peaking in the late 1980’s, global CFC emissions are down 95%. As countries industrialize, living standards rise, and carbon emissions are reduced. One example is the transition in the developing world from fuelwood to cleaner cooking oils. The Paris Agreement constituted global commitments to emissions reductions and transparency.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act has already doubled the US emissions reductions. Carbon emissions per-person have peaked and are decreasing due to technological progress; an individual in the developed world emits far less carbon than they would have 100 years ago. While climate change undoubtedly influences extreme weather events, death from said events has been dramatically reduced. The list goes on. Humanity is already adapting to and mitigating climate change and will continue to do so in the future.