Better Late Than Never

I should have made this decision months ago.  Perhaps years ago.  I can only attribute my inaction to my Irish heritage which stereotypically enjoys a good argument.

What I refer to is the endless arguments with people on social media (anti-social, more like it) about a range of topics, but principally climate change.

Some call these people "climate change skeptics". I wouldn't be that kind.  Being skeptical is useful.  All good people of science are skeptical, accepting the conclusions of others only after examining the evidence, perhaps after trying to replicate experiments themselves.

My choice of term would be "climate change denier".  These people are in complete denial about almost everything that's happening in the environment, specifically as a result of our greenhouse gas emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Their arguments cover the gamut, from "it isn't happening", to "humans aren't causing it", to "the climate is always changing, this is nothing new", to "volcanoes give off more gases than humans do", to "Canada is carbon neutral"....but you get the idea, and I'm sure you've heard all of them, many times.

If you want to look at a more complete list of all the excuses climate change deniers make as they pretend nothing is happening, you can look here:  Most Used Climate Myths

Consequently, this is where we are now, decades after the problem was first observed and the first warning signs were apparent to those who were looking:

One point that's been made quite often recently is that it is nearly impossible to change people's point of view, especially when the new information challenges their world view.

So, as I alluded to earlier, I've made a decision.  I'm not going to bother engaging with such people.  People who haven't bothered to even become acquainted with the available information.  After all, it's not like convincing these people will actually change anything, right?  Efforts would be better expended lobbying politicians and businesses to make the changes that are necessary to our survival.

As for social media discussions, my tactic will be to simply block such people.  It's a waste of time arguing with them, they are impervious to facts and information, so I can't see the point in engaging with them and giving them the platform to repeat the same nonsense.  It's the 21st Century, after all. 

Should have done it months ago.