The war on climate change is at a crossroads. After two decades of tireless efforts by scientists, green NGOs and other parties to reverse mankind’s impact on the environment, it seems that the approach is being ramped up. In the last few years, we have seen an exponential increase in awareness of the negative impacts of our carbon-heavy lifestyles on Earth and its inhabitants. From blue icebergs falling off Antarctica to the melting glaciers in Norway to droughts and flooding, images of nature under attack are everywhere. But are these just photo ops? Do they have an ulterior motive? Or do they reflect reality?

The critical choice that politicians and leaders across the world will need to make is do they prioritise truth, transparency and liberty, or do they choose propaganda, manipulation, restrictions and forced compliance.

What is climate change?

Climate change refers to significant and long-term alterations in the Earth's climate, including changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The Earth's climate naturally changes over time due to various factors, but human activities have accelerated the rate of change, raising concerns about the consequences for ecosystems and human societies.

Natural Climate Change

The Earth's climate has experienced fluctuations throughout its history, driven by natural factors such as:

1. Solar variability: The sun's energy output varies over time, affecting the amount of energy the Earth receives. These changes can influence the planet's climate, leading to warmer or cooler periods.

2. Earth's orbit and tilt: Variations in the Earth's orbit around the sun and its axial tilt can alter the distribution of solar energy across the planet. These changes, known as Milankovitch cycles, can cause significant climate fluctuations over thousands of years, contributing to the formation and retreat of ice ages.

3. Volcanic activity: Volcanic eruptions release large amounts of aerosols and gases, including sulphur dioxide, into the atmosphere. These particles can reflect sunlight back into space, causing temporary cooling on a global scale.

4. Ocean currents: The movement of ocean currents redistributes heat around the Earth, influencing climate patterns. Changes in these currents, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, can lead to short-term climate fluctuations.

5. Natural greenhouse effect: The Earth's atmosphere contains naturally occurring greenhouse gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. These gases trap heat, helping to regulate the planet's temperature. Variations in the concentrations of these gases due to natural processes can cause the climate to change.

    

Human Influence on Climate Change

While the Earth's climate has always experienced natural fluctuations, human activities have significantly accelerated the rate of change in recent times, mainly due to the increased emission of greenhouse gases. Key human influences on climate change include:

1. Burning of fossil fuels: The combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, causing the Earth's average temperature to rise—a phenomenon known as global warming.

2. Deforestation and land-use change: The removal of forests for agriculture, urbanization, and other purposes reduces the planet's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Moreover, the conversion of land can release stored carbon into the atmosphere, further contributing to climate change.

3. Agriculture and livestock: Farming practices, including the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers and the cultivation of rice paddies, release substantial amounts of methane and nitrous oxide—both potent greenhouse gases. Livestock farming, particularly cattle, produces methane through enteric fermentation in the digestive processes of these animals.

4. Industrial processes: Certain industries, such as cement production and the production of synthetic chemicals, release greenhouse gases and other pollutants that contribute to climate change.

The overwhelming scientific consensus is that human activities have been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. Whilst from a geological perspective the planet will be able to rectify any imbalance itself, the rapid pace of climate change poses significant risks to ecosystems, human health, and the stability of societies worldwide.

Why the sudden urgency?

Scientists have been warning us about the effects of our carbon-heavy lifestyles on Earth and its inhabitants for decades. There are many reasons why these warnings have reached fever pitch in recent years. Some of them include:

• The successful efforts of scientists and green activists to raise awareness of the issue with the help of the media.
• Decades of pushing the climate change message in schools and higher education.
• The rise of eco-friendly and sustainable energy sources.
• The measured increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, which has now reached 400 ppm.
• The rapid melting of polar ice caps, glaciers, and permafrost, which are accelerating the process of rising sea levels.
• The shrinking of the world’s tropical forests and the disappearing rainforests.
• The growing impact of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and hurricanes.
• Daily, continual messaging through the media, businesses, social media, celebrities and public bodies resulting in increased awareness among the general public.

Using Climate Change as a Cover for War

Climate change has been described as “a ‘new kind of war’” by Franz Fischer, the Undersecretary of State at the German Foreign Office. The war on climate change has been declared many times, but the fight against global warming might be more accurately described as an excuse for military conquest. Franz Fischer’s chilling words might have been taken out of the mouth of a conquering general. After all, he was talking about climate change during the announcement of a new initiative by the German army to integrate climate change into all aspects of their operations. The initiative, which follows a similar one by the US army that was launched in 2010, might be seen as a token of goodwill towards the fight against climate change, but it also serves as a cover for military conquest. 

Note that if you are interested in reading more on this subject, you might like to read our article specifically on the subject of climate war.

Using Climate Change to Control the Public

There is nothing more helpful in controlling the public than having a clear enemy - it helps unite a country behind a common cause, provides a justification for restrictions on freedom and acts as a coercive mechanism for establishing compliance across a diverse population.

We have all witnessed first-hand the way that Covid19 was used to control the public, limit our freedoms and push us in directions that we would otherwise not choose.  This example is not being introduced to stimulate a discussion as to whether the approach was justifiable or essential, moreover a helpful reflection on how the threat of climate change could be utilised to force citizens away from freedom, and towards controlled economic and social systems that very few of us would genuinely support if we recognised the long-term implications.

Potential economic, legislative and social controls include:

• Using taxation to penalise companies that don't comply with net zero policies
• Making polluting companies financially non-viable through blocking their access to banking and investor funding
• Using legislation to ban products that don't comply with net zero
• Introducing social credit scores for the general public - either encouraging or forcing compliance
• Using legislation or regulatory controls to restrict discussions and communication on social media and other websites that are deemed contradictory to the climate change narrative
• Taking control of mass media messaging directly through nationalisation or indirectly through legislation and regulations
• Regulating speech questioning or challenging climate change and/or the determined solution 
• Utilising global mechanisms to influence consumption, such as enabling energy price increases
• Using legislation and propaganda to reduce the population growth rate
• Banning unnecessary foreign travel, or making it financially non-viable for the masses
• Banning or restricting meat consumption and other practices that increase emissions
• Introducing legislation that enables prosecution for individuals who have a high carbon footprint
• Using Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to control the actions, behaviours and spending patterns of the population away from any purchase deemed as environmentally harmful
• Using social media to exercise social-engineering to steer the population towards a shared perception on climate change
• Escalating the fear in the general public in order to enhance political controls and justify increasingly extreme actions

These potential controls vary wildly in the way in which they could be applied. For example, social credit scores could be a simple way to encourage sustainable choices, or alternatively they could be weaponised to destroy small businesses, shame people for their family planning decisions, segment society and apply deeply unfair tax policies.

Conclusion

Climate change is a serious problem that threatens the future well-being of the planet and its inhabitants. The damage we have inflicted on Earth’s fragile ecosystem by pumping large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere in a relatively short period of time will have to be reversed if we are to have a sustainable future. To achieve that, we need to reduce our carbon emissions, invest in green technologies, and promote sustainable lifestyles. The war on climate change must be fought on all fronts, but it must be fought responsibly.  Using the truth to capture hearts and minds and helping steer societies actions would be responsible, as would using government funds to establish technologies that can reduce CO2 levels.  Deception, fearmongering, propaganda and the destruction of individual freedoms are not acceptable... but is it the natural direction that politicians will take?