Atlit Yam is a village in Israel that was once part of the Asian continent, and it being a village, it had inhabitants estimated 9,000 years ago. Today it's not part of the map because it has been submerged under the Mediterranean Sea. Pavlopetri in Greece is also an example of a village that was submerged. It was uncovered in the year 1967. Once renowned across Ancient Egypt, Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus are also examples of submerged cities. They were submerged due to rising sea levels.
The lion has been used by many ancient kingdoms to express pride. They have been mentioned in religious texts like the Bible in the story of Solomon. There are statues of lions in Egypt that have been dated thousands of years old. Lions are known to live in the Savannah vegetation, except today, Egypt and Israel are deserts.
It's also important to look at the Middle East and the North Pole, which are rich in fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are formed from organic matter that has decomposed and experienced high pressures. However, the Middle East and the North Pole are deserts and ice lands respectively. Therefore, the presence of oil in the regions is an indication that they were densely populated with organic matter like forests and grass.
East Africa has experienced a three-year drought that has been said to be the worst in almost 50 years. This means that there was another one 50 years ago. Fifty years ago, we had most of our forests, and carbon emissions weren't as much as they are today. We blame the recent drought on climate change, but what about 50 years ago? Was it still climate change? Another effect of climate change is rising sea levels. Do we blame the rising levels of the Mediterranean that submerged cities thousands of years ago on climate change? The disappeared savannahs in the Northern part of Africa, which is a desert today? And what about the disappeared forests of the Middle East and the North Pole, which are evidenced by the presence of oil?
I argue that climate change is a natural phenomenon but has been accelerated by human activities such as deforestation and carbon emissions among others. The Earth has experienced cold periods (informally referred to as “ice ages,” or "glacials") and warm periods (“interglacials”) on roughly 100,000-year cycles for at least the last 1 million years. The last of these ice age glaciations peaked around 20,000 years ago. This means that we're gradually entering the warm periods where we expect a surge in temperatures. This evidence conflicts with how climate change is being sold to the people today.
Looking at the political side of it, the West is at the forefront of the fight against climate change yet some of its countries owe their development to fossil fuels. Parts of the United States like Alaska are starting to exploit its oil and natural gas yet it discourages African and South American countries from exploiting theirs. The West and Asia are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases but have started buying carbon credits in African countries to maintain the ecosystem which is good but according to nature, the world will naturally continue getting warmer.
The West uses fossil fuels like coal to run their industries but tell Africans to invest in green energy. Fossil fuels are cheap and hence the West will continue producing industrial goods cheaply while green energy is expensive and thus cost of production will remain high for African products making them more expensive in the market. How then are expensive African manufactured goods expected to compete with cheap Western goods? Yet we say that we want a balanced global trade.
Africa being the least emitter of greenhouse gases should go ahead and exploit its fuel reserves and get its people out of poverty. Africa has the forest and oceans that will sink a good amount of its released carbon. We have 60% of arable land, and we should invest in smart agriculture to feed our masses despite the changing climate. The fact that climate change is a natural phenomenon means it should be the least of our problems.
