Environment GD Topic | Is Climate Change Real?

Group discussion topics are far and many and are divided into many categories. The GD round is a part of most job employment and admission processes. And you need to be prepared for these well in advance. The concerns about our environment are omnipresent, making environment GD topics some of the most popular topics of discussion. The organizations conducting these GDs want to know how well-informed you are on these topics, what are your thoughts on the same, and how you present them in a group activity. 

And one of the most important environmental topics of discussion is climate change. The debate surrounding this topic is wide with varied opinions. While some people believe that climate change is real and a cause of great concern, there are many others who believe that climate change is a hoax. In this article, we will take a look at what is climate change, and if it is real or not. So let’s begin.

What is Climate Change?

According to the United Nations, climate change refers to the long-term shifts in the weather patterns and temperature of the atmosphere. While some of these shifts might be due to natural causes such as variations in the solar cycle, etc. human actions also lead to unnatural changes in these patterns. These unnatural changes are often referred to as global warming, climate change, and degradation. For example, the greenhouse gases emitted when fossil fuels are burned lead to the greenhouse effect, that is, trapping of the sun's rays which causes an unnatural rise in the temperature.

Points for ‘Is Climate Change Real?’

Some of the most common points implying that climate change is real are shared below. You can use these points when participating in group discussions, and also conduct further research to support your claims. 

• We are surrounded by proof supporting that climate change is real. This includes the adverse effects of climate change in the form of frequent hurricanes, droughts, heatwaves, sudden and unseasonal rains, melting of icebergs/ glaciers, and subsequent rise in seas level. Such incidents have been on the rise in recent years, negating the claim that climate change is a hoax.
• There are multiple kinds of research and studies that ascertain that there has been an acceleration in the adverse effects of climate change and global warming in recent years.
• As per stats, the greenhouse gas concentration is the highest it has been in the last 2 million years. And this continued rise in greenhouse gases has resulted in the Earth becoming 1.1 degrees Celcius warmer than it was in the late 1800s. Such reports and studies have caught the attention of many authorities leading to the establishment of many formal meets, agreements, accords, etc. between many nations.
• Many international protocols and treaties have been signed on the matter. Environmentalists highlight the need for bringing about sustainable changes, urgently.
• Two of the most prominent accords in reference to climate change and control in recent times are the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The fact that countries all over the globe are concerned with the matter to the extent of participating in such accords, iterates that climate change is real and its effects are not a joke.
• There is also the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which binds member states’ actions to be in favor of the human race, by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The goal of the convention is to stabilize this level that deters the dangerous effects of human interference with the climate system. This convention was entered into force on 21 March 1994, and currently, 198 countries have ratified it leading to a near-universal membership.
• The Kyoto Protocol is an extension of the UNFCCC, or rather it operationalizes the convention. Even though the convention was adopted on 11 December 1997, it was entered into force on 16 February 2005, because of the complexity of the ratification process. The protocol calls for industrialized economies to limit as well as reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as per the agreed target. The protocol follows the annex-bases structure of the UNFCCC and puts a heavier burden on the countries on the basis that they are largely responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions. It prioritizes six GHG gases, namely- methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Presently, there are 192 participating countries in the Kyoto Protocol.
• The Paris Agreement was originally adopted as a legally binding international treaty on 12 December 2015 but was entered into force on 4 November 2016. The aim of the agreement is to limit global warming to below 2 (preferably 1.5) degrees Celcius and achieve a climate-neutral world. The participating countries aim to cap GHG emissions as soon as possible to achieve this goal. It calls for social as well as economic changes to be brought about by the nations on the basis of 5-year cycle action plans.
• There has been some controversy around this agreement, with US withdrawal being at the center of it. The Agreement was adopted by 196 parties, but on 1 June 2017, President Donal Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement claiming that it undermines the nation's economy and puts it at a permanent disadvantage. The withdrawal came to effect on 4 November 2020. But post the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden signed the order to rejoin the agreement with effect on 19 February 2021.  
• Besides these international treaties/ events, many independent yet prominent environmental groups have been calling for accountability from nations with high carbon footprints to exercise control and take part in the movements to control global warming.
• For example, Friends of the Earth International is a network of environmentalist and social justice organizations in about 70 countries. Founded in 1971, the activist organizations work at the grassroots level to engage in campaigns ranging in purpose from fighting climate change, and global warming, to combating deforestation, and many socioeconomic issues as well.

Points against- ‘Is Climate Change Real?’

The case against climate change being real might be a little more difficult to prove in comparison. But there are some points that support the claim that climate change is a hoax. Let's have a look at them.

• As stated in the intro, climate change also occurs as a part of the natural solar cycle. And we might be experiencing just that.
• For example, some 20,000 years ago a major chunk of what we now know as the United States was covered in glaciers. But today the number of glaciers is minute in comparison, and we are also experiencing warmer climates. Who is to say that this is not a natural phenomenon/ cycle that the earth is experiencing?
• The loss of species is one of the major impacts of climate change as claimed by many scientists and environmentalists. But this is not the first time that extinction is happening. Think about this- extinction of certain species might actually be a part of the natural evolution process as happened millions of years ago. For example, dinosaurs went extinct after living on Earth for a total of about 165 million years. They went completely extinct about 65 million years ago. No one can say for sure what form the process of future evolution will take.
• Similarly, for most of the stats, we have to compare the changes over a few thousand years, which in comparison could be a small part of the bigger picture. The thawing of the arctic ice, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, etc. everything could be a part of the natural process, which we are trying to delay or halt by our efforts to control the change in the environment.
• Many theorists claim that climate change issues are not as severe as they are made out to be. It is merely a hoax to shift the blame for inefficiencies and incompetencies. For example, many authorities claim that the food crisis is a cause of climate change affecting the agricultural cycle. While this may be true to a minor extent, they might also be trying to cover the fact that they haven’t taken serious steps to adapt to the changes. Also, the food crisis plays into the inflation of food prices narrative.

Conclusion

This compiles the list of points you can use to argue your case or stance on the above-mentioned environmental GD topic. In addition, you can also research the steps taken by the Government of India to curb climate change effects, and how have they performed in terms of reaching the targets/ goals. This group discussion topic like many others concerns the whole of mankind, so we’d suggest you research your claims properly and proceed with caution when taking a stand. #BeUnstoppable

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