[CLOSED]Do you think that climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today

[jamiexo]

I know for me, in the United States, climate change is one of the highly debated topics, especially when it comes to things such as the presidential elections. If a president is not willing to take immediate action to combat climate change, then chances are they are not going to be elected. We see the effects of climate change in our everyday lives, and all around the world. Sure, these changes are not expected to greatly affect the earth for years to come, but it is something that is creeping up on us and we start seeing these small changes to our world day by day.

With this being said, I want to know what you think...

Is climate change the greatest threat that humanity is facing today? If you do not think it is, what do you think the greatest threat is?

Let me know in the comments below!

THIS DEBATES ENDS ON OCTOBER 31ST at 11:59PM BST.

For more information on the debate guidelines and how to win prizes, see the guidelines thread here!

[-:Undertaker:-]

No, and I do not accept that the climate is changing in any radical or extreme way. The climate changes of course, but it always has - even in periods which are geologically insignificant, there have been changes long before the invention of the car or the Industrial Revolution itself. Many of the natural events that are put down to global warming by the media and politicians are in fact quite normal events, or are conversely made worse by human errors and actions. Take flooding for example - in recent decades, planning permission across British towns and cities has been given to extensive house building on flood plains - and, shock horror! They flood. There are also errors such as due to EU environmental regulations, dredging of rivers was prohibited to protect wildlife - but then then resulted in rivers having a lower capacity and flooding during heavy rains.

That doesn't mean to say I am against measures which can improve our environment, far from it. I am very pro many measures that are now being explored such as more tree planting, returning some fields to wildflower meadow, encouraging hedges instead of walls and fences, rewilding places such as the Highlands which have been ecologically destroyed by sheep farming, reintroducing predators such as beavers, wolves and bears into environments where they once lived, and costly penalties - and even prison - for those who dump waste illegally. I myself have taken our family garden, which was nothing more than grass, and have established many mature trees, a wildlife pond and I have planted hundreds of bulbs under the lawn which come up every spring. In terms of the environment, I have done my bit - despite being unconvinced of climate change being an impending doom.

So, yes to practical things which enhance our environment but no to scaremongering end-of-the-world stories. That's my take on it.

[_spirit]

I feel "Is climate change the greatest threat that humanity is facing today?" we'll yes and no obviously there is a lot going on over the world for one you have isis and they they been causing trouble and disaster for years, the latest is the taliban group which seen kabul fall, but then again I do see climate change as a MASSIVE issue for the world. I have been watching documentaries lately all about climate change, the arctic is melting away which has been proven by scientists.

Last month, less sea ice covered the Arctic Ocean than in any other July since scientists began keeping track of it with satellites in 1979, marking another step toward a devastating and planet-reshaping inevitability: an ice-free summer for the Arctic Ocean.

Each year, Arctic sea ice expands as the sea surface freezes during the long, dark winter. At its maximum in March, the ice covers nearly the entire Arctic Ocean, almost 6 million square miles. It melts back during summer, reaching its lowest point in September. In July during the 1980s, the ice covered an average of about 3.8 million square miles, roughly the area of the U.S. or Canada.

This July, sea ice covered only about 2.8 million square miles. Since 1979, Arctic sea ice has declined by an average of 27,000 square miles a year, an area the size of North Dakota that melts each year and doesn’t grow back. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/s...e-gone-by-2035

Next you have all the wildfires which have been causing a load of damage and deaths over the last couple of weeks

Climate change has been a key factor in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the Western United States. Wildfire risk depends on a number of factors, including temperature, soil moisture, and the presence of trees, shrubs, and other potential fuel. All these factors have strong direct or indirect ties to climate variability and climate change. Climate change enhances the drying of organic matter in forests (the material that burns and spreads wildfire), and has doubled the number of large fires between 1984 and 2015 in the western United States.

Research shows that changes in climate create warmer, drier conditions. Increased drought, and a longer fire season are boosting these increases in wildfire risk. For much of the U.S. West, projections show that an average annual 1 degree C temperature increase would increase the median burned area per year as much as 600 percent in some types of forests. In the Southeastern United States modeling suggests increased fire risk and a longer fire season, with at least a 30 percent increase from 2011 in the area burned by lightning-ignited wildfire by 2060. https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfir...limate-change/

Then of course you have the extreme weather which has been causing flooding and even HEAT WAVES in September!!

Torrential hurricanes, devastating droughts, crippling ice storms, and raging heat waves—all are extreme weather phenomena that can claim lives and cause untold damage. Climate change influences severe weather by causing longer droughts and higher temperatures in some regions and more intense deluges in others, say climate experts. Among the most vulnerable are communities in exposed mountain and coastal regions. In those settings worldwide, citizens are adjusting to new weather realities by strengthening warning, shelter, and protection systems.

CATASTROPHES ON THE RISE

Meteorological records show a rise in weather-related disasters since 1980. Climate change affects some weather, but experts caution against blaming it for every extreme event. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/c...t/weather.html

So it brings me to my opinion it is not the greatest threat as a lot is going on all over the world, but then it is a MAJOR thing that needs sorting and people need to all come together to make changes otherwise nothing is going to change this including all the GOVERNMENTS.

thanks for listening x

[Ginoulla]

Yes. I read about how climate change is affecting our daily lives. It even is affecting the foods we eat. Are they fresh? Where are they coming from. Chemicals. It has everything to do with climate change because temperatures are changing, humankind are not respecing mother nature. Things need to change!