As we steel ourselves to get through the turkey and trimmings without strangling anyone at the table, we might want to do a little planning.
Essentially, we’ll all be playing a national game of “Taboo,” where certain words can’t be spoken. Words like “election,” “Clinton,” “Trump,” or “KKK.”
So what on earth do we talk about once we finish complimenting the cook on the cranberry sauce?
I know! How about climate change?
While this is sure to spark a rousing discussion, you can at least make sure that your team has all the facts at your fingertips. You can also have handy charts and videos to prove your point.
Facts like these, published on the Huffington Post:
1. Global Temperatures
Climate change deniers refuse to accept the fact that the temperature of the planet is rising every year.
Bam. Here is video proof.
Spiralling global temperatures | updated to August 2016: https://t.co/rPSSxkS2mn pic.twitter.com/yMo0GNAsxk
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) September 30, 2016
2. Temperature Records
We are breaking temperature records over and over.
These two facts are obviously related, but the visuals will help you to get those climate deniers to fill their mouths with pie. As each new record is reached, it is clear that the overall temperature of the earth is rising steadily.
3. Arctic Ice
Arctic sea ice is shrinking significantly every year. As that ice shrinks and melts, the sea level rises. This threatens coastal communities all around the globe. Here is an amazing and scary video that shows an actual view of that shrinking ice cap.
4. Rate Of Ice Loss
We are losing that vital Arctic ice at an increasing rate. Which of course is further evidence of rising temperatures, as if anyone needed any.
2016 #Arctic sea ice minimum ties with 2007 for 2nd lowest. https://t.co/BGLZYZvGMY pic.twitter.com/vJghT6HGDc
— National Snow and Ice Data Center (@NSIDC) September 15, 2016
5. Carbon Dioxide
The more carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere, the more of the sun’s energy will be absorbed and reflected back to earth, further warming the planet. Scientists have been warning for years that the tipping point of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be 350 parts per million (ppm). We hit it.
Once that mark was passed, the next target was 400 ppm. We’ve hit that one, too.
And now they say we’ll never again drop below that point. Show you’re crazy uncle the video below.
Carbon dioxide just hit its annual minimum at Mauna Loa Observatory and failed to dip below 400 ppm https://t.co/m0ZoyzgcEf
— Climate Central (@ClimateCentral) September 28, 2016
There. Now you’re ready to make it all the way to the coffee and brandy. You can use these useful visuals to win the argument on climate change.
And if anyone says “private server,” you can say “polar bears.”
Featured image via Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
