Category: Online Special

Claim

A Twitter user @JunkScience on May 2, 2023 wrote that April 2023 is much colder than April 1981.

The tweet reads: “April 2023 much cooler than April 1981 in lower 48… despite 133% more manmade CO2. Recall that the climate con is every emission warms the planet. It’s not a crisis. It’s a hoax..”

It attracted 3,125 retweets, 125 quotes, 7,776 likes and 339 bookmarks.

Verification

As of May 2 when the tweet was posted, there was no available data showing the global temperature for April 2023.

However, on the 8th of May, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) released an analysis which saw April 2023 as the fourth warmest April globally as the month was 0.32 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1991-2020 average and recorded a sharp contrast in European air temperatures.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union’s Earth observation programme, “routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air temperature, sea ice cover and hydrological variables”.

The temperature of April 2023 was highlighted as follows:

• The month was the joint fourth warmest April globally.
• Temperatures were above average over southwest Europe, with Spain and Portugal recording their highest-ever April temperatures.
• Colder-than-average temperatures were experienced in a band stretching from the United Kingdom to southeast Europe.
• It was much warmer than average over parts of Africa, in central Asia surrounding the Caspian Sea, in southeast Asia and Japan, and across northern North America.
• It was colder than average over Alaska, Mongolia, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Australia.

Read Also: FACT CHECK: Partly False: CO2 Emissions contribute largely to warming of atmosphere

The month was about 0.2°C cooler than April 2016, the warmest April on record. However, it was similar in temperature (within 0.02°C) to April 2017 and April 2018.

The analysis also noted that some parts of the world were colder than average, however, the claimant did not state a specific area which one could interpret he meant globally. The analysis looked at two reference periods: 1981-2010 and 1991-2020.

According to the analysis, April 2023 was also wetter than normal “in a large west-to-east region from Ireland, Great Britain and France, across central Europe to the Italian peninsula, the Balkans and the Black Sea”, while there were exceptionally dry conditions in the Iberian Peninsula, south of the Alps and parts of French Mediterranean coast.

Drier-than-average conditions were also forecast for northwestern Scandinavia, the Baltic states and most of western Russia.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), another authority in climate data, is yet to release the April global climate report. The available data is for March 2023, while the latest global and hemispheric time series anomalies cover January to April 2022.

Rating

As of 2nd of May, when the claim was shared, there was no available temperature data for April 2023 by recognized authorities. A new analysis shows that April 2023 is the fourth warmest April globally. During this month, some countries experienced colder-than-average temperatures, while others experienced warmer-than-average temperatures.

This fact-check was produced by Justina Asishana, a Journalist with The Nation Newspaper with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.

Claim

A video on TikTok shared on February 28, 2023 by creativesociety.au claimed that CO2 does not warm the atmosphere, rather, it cools it down.

The video’s transcription reads: “Did you know that CO2 does not warm the atmosphere but cools it down? Climate change due to CO2 emissions is negligible because the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is insignificant. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is 0.04% while anthropogenic CO2 is 0.0004%.

“How can 4 molecules per million that humans add to the atmosphere cause global climate change? However,636 million have been spent in 2020 to combat CO2 emissions paid from our pockets but natural disasters continue to increase because it is different.”

The TikTok video had 44 likes and 16 comments and was shared 3 times.

Verification

Does CO2 Cool the Atmosphere?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) describesCarbon dioxide (CO2) as “an important heat-trapping greenhouse gas that comes from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas), wildfires, and natural processes like volcanic eruptions”. The Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes climate change by warming the planet.

Read Also: Fact Check: Climate Change occurs from CO2 Emissions

When there’s more CO2 in the atmosphere, it traps heat, making the atmosphere warmer. Temperatures are increasing around the world because humans are adding more CO2 to the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases have molecular structures that enable them to absorb infrared radiation. Although Carbon dioxide accounts for only 0.04% of the atmosphere, it still adds up to billions upon billions of tons of heat-trapping gas.

According to the Columbia Climate School “Carbon dioxide absorbs energy at a variety of wavelengths between 2,000 and 15,000 nanometers — a range that overlaps with that of infrared energy. As CO2 soaks up this infrared energy, it vibrates and re-emits the infrared energy back in all directions. About half of that energy goes out into space, and about half of it returns to Earth as heat, contributing to the greenhouse effect”.

However, studies have shown that CO2 causes cooling in the upper atmosphere but not the entire atmosphere.

Rating

Partly False – CO2 emissions are largely responsible for the warming of the atmosphere even though there are studies that show that high concentrations of CO2 also cool the upper atmosphere.

This fact-check was produced by Justina Asishana, a Journalist with The Nation Newspaper with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.

Claim

A Twitter User @cotupacs on April 16 wrote that there is no hole in the ozone layer and there is no acid rain.

The tweet reads: “There was no hole in the OZONE LAYER

There wasn’t ACID RAIN

There was no GLOBAL WARMING

And now because there’s no CLIMATE CRISIS – they’re starting to manufacture their own. WAKE UP PLEASE..”

The tweet was retweeted 5,770 times, had 228 quote tweets, and 11,700 likes.

Verification

What is an Ozone Layer?

National Geographic Society describes the ozone layer as one layer of the stratosphere which is the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere. It states that the ozone layer is “a thin part of Earth’s atmosphere that absorbs almost all of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet light”.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that the ozone layer in the stratosphere absorbs a portion of the radiation from the sun, preventing it from reaching the planet’s surface, and it protects all life from the sun’s harmful radiation.

Is there a hole in the Ozone Layer?

The ozone hole is not a literal “hole” with no ozone at all, but a part of the stratosphere over the Antarctic that experiences significant depletion of ozone during the beginning of Southern Hemisphere spring, between August and October. The hole lies above Antarctica.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that the ozone hole is a result of ozone depletion, which has occurred since the early 1980s.

NASA further explains that human activities are the reason for the hole in the ozone layer “through the use of gases like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in spray cans and refrigerants, which break down ozone molecules in the upper atmosphere”.

In the final quarter of 2022, scientists from NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the hole in the ozone layer is continuing to shrink as it spanned an average area of 23.2 million square kilometers between 7 September and 13 October 2022.

What is Acid Rain?

National Geographic Society describes acid rain as “any form of precipitation that contains high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids and can also occur in the form of snow, fog, and tiny bits of dry material that settle on Earth”.

Normal rain is said to be slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.6, while acid rain generally has a pH between 4.2 and 4.4.

Britannica states that acid rain, also called acid precipitation or acid deposition, is precipitation possessing a pH of about 5.2 or below primarily produced from the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides from human activities, which react with water and other chemicals to create sulfuric and nitric acids that fall to the ground.

The burning of fossil fuels is the main source of these emissions, with electric power generators being the major contributor. Vehicles, heavy equipment, and industries such as manufacturing and oil refineries also contribute to this issue.

Impact of Acid Rain

Acid rain affects aquatic ecosystems by increasing acidity in water bodies, which can harm aquatic animals, including crayfish, clams, and fish.

Acid rain also harms forests and can make trees more vulnerable to cold temperatures, insects, and disease, and also damage physical structures and cause health problems such as eye irritation and asthma when inhaled.

Is there Global Warming and Climate Crisis?

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), climate crisis refers to “the serious problems that are being caused or are likely to be caused by changes in the planet’s climate”. The organization further states that “since the 1800s, the Earth’s average temperature has increased by 1.1° C and has been causing significant damage in many parts of the world”.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in February 2022 highlighted several pieces of evidence of a climate crisis which ranged from 50% of the world’s population facing severe water shortages at some point every year, exposure to deadly heat stress, 500,000 more people being at risk of serious flooding each year, and an increase in the spread of diseases such as dengue fever in people, and wildlife, crops, and livestock due to rising temperatures and rainfall.

The evidence of climate crisis and emergency can be seen in climate extreme events such as heat waves, floods, storms, wildfires, and droughts which have exacerbated global food insecurity; driven global migration, and acted as a crisis multiplier posing grave national security threats.

Global warming is primarily caused by human activity that releases carbon into the atmosphere, most significantly the burning of fossil fuels to drive cars, generate electricity, and operate our homes and businesses.

According to the United Nations, fossil fuels which include coal, oil, and gas are the largest contributor to climate change and global warming which accounts for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Greenhouse gas emissions trap the sun’s heat, causing global warming and climate change.

Rating

False – There is a hole in the Ozone Layer although experts say that the hole is gradually shrinking. Additionally, acid rain still occurs even though its impact is far less than it was in the 80s.

This fact-check was produced by Justina Asishana, a Journalist with The Nation Newspaper with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.