From global warming to the shape of the Earth, we count 10 science facts people refuse to believe.
10. Global Warming
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary many people still refuse to believe in global warming. Since taking office, President Trump has deleted an entire section of the White House’s website dedicated to climate change including data supporting global warming as well as information on renewable energy sources. There are loads of options for renewable energy. People can look at using wind energy, however, a popular one is solar energy. If this is something that interests you then you can look at these 5KW Solar Systems. These systems are great for their ability to harvest plenty of electricity all while housed conveniently on the roof of a property.
In 2013, a report compiled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that ‘It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed (global) warming since the mid-20th century.’ Scientists have been able to establish a climate record by studying geological evidence from several sources including past sea levels, sediment layers and core samples of glaciers. Using the data, they have projected that during the current century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to 1.7 °C (0.5 to 3.1 °F) based on the lowest emissions scenario.
In 2010, Gallup conducted a global poll that determined that since 2007-08 there was a substantial decrease in the number of Americans and Europeans who viewed global warming as a serious threat. The same poll also revealed that people were more likely to attribute global warming to human activities than to natural causes, except in the US where nearly half of those surveyed attributed global warming to natural causes.
9. The Moon Landing
Opinion polls conducted in recent times have shown that as many as 20% of Americans and 28% of Russians believe that the moon landings were actually faked.
Moon landing deniers believe they were actually filmed in a studio and that any evidence that supports the man walking on the moon has been tampered with in some way. Many deniers believe that the moon landings were faked by the US in order to win the Space Race against the Soviet Union.
Numerous pieces of evidence support the moon landings including a series of high definition photographs taken since the late 2000’s by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The photographs show in detail all of the lander modules left behind from previous missions as well as US flags and even the tracks made by the astronauts.
8. Humans Lived Alongside Dinosaurs
Many people believe that dinosaurs and man co-existed on Earth despite scientists being able to calculate when dinosaurs went extinct. Using methods such as relative dating, scientists can estimate the age of dinosaur fossils in relation to where they were found in layers of rock. Radiometric dating allows scientists to accurately calculate the age of a fossil by analyzing the decay of radioactive elements within that fossil.
Scientists have determined that dinosaurs (with the exception of birds) went extinct 65 million years ago. Using similar techniques scientists have also determined that the earliest human ancestors only date back 6 million years. That means that there is is a gap of more than 50 million years between the extinction of the dinosaurs and the first human beings.
7. Germ Theory
The theory that germs cause infectious disease has been widely accepted since Louis Pasteur conducted a series of experiments in the 1800’s that indicated it was correct. Pasteur’s achievements included inventing vaccines for rabies and anthrax as well as proving the concept of sterilization. Since then this theory has been adopted by most branches of medicine.
There are some however, that don’t believe this to be true. Many germ theory deniers believe that a French scientist named Antoine Béchamp, who lived around the same time as Pasteur, was correct. He believed that disease was not caused by outside bacteria but rather by environmental conditions and an unhealthy body. This could result in the body decomposing tissue and producing bacteria.
There is also another group of people who essentially believe that the opposite true. They believe that germs actually cause all disease including some like certain types of cancer, that have been proven to be linked to genetics and external pollutants.
6. The Age Of The Earth
Many people believe the Earth to be less than 10, 000 years old.
Using techniques such as radiometric dating and comparing the mass and luminosity of the sun with that of other stars, scientists have been able to determine that the Earth is in fact 4.543 billion years old. As previously mentioned humans have only been around for 6 million years. Putting this in perspective, if the time from the formation of Earth to now was a 24 hour clock, dinosaurs didn’t appear until 10:56 pm while us humans did not show up until 11:58 pm.
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