Environment ministry dismisses climate change denialists

• Published date: 28 February 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Vice Environment Minister Yoo Je-chul, second from left, speaks during a press conference for foreign correspondents in Korea at Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Environment

Vice minister points out measured facts that verify climate change

By Ko Dong-hwan

The vice environment minister, Wednesday, dismissed arguments by climate change denialists, saying various "measured facts" prove that the crisis is real and happening right now.

Yoo Je-chul admitted he was aware of people around the world who refuse to accept that rising ocean temperatures and more frequent extreme natural disasters represent a climate crisis.

"Certainly I have heard that argument, and so I heard as well that there is a prominent Korean scholar who also supports that argument," Yoo said during a press conference with foreign correspondents in Korea.

Yoo disagreed with the denialists, referring to a list of data recorded over the past centuries.

"Before 1850 when the first Industrial Revolution ended and the second one began, the concentration level of carbon dioxide in greenhouse gases across the globe was around 285 parts per million (ppm)," said Yoo, former president of Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute. "That figure has now jumped to about 420 ppm. Methane, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen fluoride, which float in the air after being generated from polluting activities, also increased throughout the period. These are the found facts that have been measured."

It is also a scientifically proven fact that greenhouse gases stop heat from escaping the atmosphere and thus cause global warming, as is the fact that the present concentration level of carbon dioxide in greenhouse gases has jumped nearly 1.5 times from before the landmark periods of industrial growth, according to Yoo. He said those facts support the existence of greenhouse gases' effects which increased the average temperature of the atmosphere.

Vice Environment Minister Yoo Je-chul, second from left, speaks during a press conference for foreign correspondents in Korea at Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Environment

Carbon emissions from factories and other industrial sites are believed to be one of the main sources of air pollution. Climate change denialists argue such human activities are being excessively suppressed by governments under false claims that the crisis was caused by humanity's industrial revolutions. Gettyimagesbank

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