Climate change is a hoax and other myths debunked by scientists. See this list.

Myth: Scientists don’t agree about climate change.

Fact: More than 99% of climate scientists agree that human activity is overheating the planet. Scientists overwhelmingly agree that burning oil, coal, and gas is overheating the planet.

Explanation: Few, if any, scientific issues have been studied and debated as much as climate change. The scientific consensus is overwhelming and durable, according to NASA.

Myth: Climate change is a political hoax.

Fact: The laws of physics don’t care about political ideologies.​ Human-caused climate change is a scientific fact, as virtually every scientific institution on Earth has concluded.

Explanation: Political leaders across the ideological spectrum have supported action to avoid a climate catastrophe. National, state, and local governments are taking action.

Myth: We can’t possibly know that humans are causing climate change.

Fact: We can, and we do. Global temperature and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased in lockstep since humans began burning large amounts of coal and other fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution.​

Explanation: NASA, NOAA, the United Kingdom Meteorological Service, the Japanese Meteorological Service, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts are just some of the top scientific institutions that have compiled these temperature and carbon dioxide records.

Myth: The climate is always changing; today is no different​.

Fact: True, Earth’s climate has changed before. But never as rapidly as now, thanks to 250 years of burning fossil fuels.

Explanation: Today’s human-induced rate of carbon release is “unprecedented during the past 66 million years,” according to a 2016 Nature study.

Myth: There’s nothing we can do about climate change, so why bother?

Fact: Scientists have repeatedly declared that humanity already has the tools and technologies to stop climate change and avoid its worst impacts. See this Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report, which ranks the five key approaches that can limit global temperature rise.

Explanation: Humans are going to have to live with today’s hotter temperatures for many years to come, but we can still dramatically limit future damage if we take strong action now. Climate solutions are abundant, common sense, and often economically superior to today’s practices. Many governments and businesses are already implementing green energy, mass transit, coastal resilience, and climate-smart agriculture solutions. Project Drawdown also has a long list of specific solutions to reduce emissions.

Myth: We can’t live without oil.

Fact: Modern societies cannot quit oil overnight, but the plummeting costs and rapid expansion of solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources show that we can leave fossil fuels behind, if we choose.

Explanation: The notion that a healthy economy and a healthy environment can’t go together is a pernicious myth. Today’s economy still runs largely on oil, but in many cases, solar and other renewable energy sources now cost less than fossil fuels.