Naysayers be forewarned - your top 10 global warming myths are about to be debunked! Climate change and global warming are anything BUT simple concepts, with tons of different factors interacting and influencing one another. One thing that we (or at least most of us) can agree upon is that the world is getting warmer due to human action, and there will be serious consequences if we don’t do something about it soon.

Whether your still a global warming skeptic, or you’re a believer who is still left a bit perplexed by certain claims - for instance, why IS Antarctica getting colder, and what’s 10 degrees here or there to someone living in Norway? - fear not! New Scientist online has examined some of the most prevalent global warming myths, and turned them on their heads with scientific evidence to the contrary. Check our our Top 10 favorites here!

1) Chaotic systems aren’t predictable, and can’t be predetermined through a computer model.
“You cannot predict the exact path a ball will take as it bounces through a pinball machine. But you can predict that the average score will change if the entire machine is tilted. Similarly, while we cannot predict the weather in a particular place and on a particular day in 100 years time, we can be sure that on average it will be far warmer if greenhouse gases continue to rise…” Read the rest.

2) There are a lot of leading scientists who say global warming isn’t happening.
“Climate change skeptics sometimes claim that many leading scientists question climate change. Well, it all depends on what you mean by “many” and “leading”. For instance, in April 2006, 60 “leading scientists” signed a letter urging Canada’s new prime minister to review his country’s commitment to the Kyoto protocol. This appears to be the biggest recent list of skeptics. Yet many, if not most, of the 60 signatories are not actively engaged in studying climate change: some are not scientists at all and at least 15 are retired”" Read the rest.

3) It’s all a conspiracy!
“Conspiracy (noun): a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.

If you believe that tens of thousands of scientists are colluding in a massive conspiracy, nothing anyone can say is likely to dissuade you. But there are less extreme versions of this argument…” Read the rest.

4) Global warming is caused by the sun, not humans.
“On timescales that vary from millions of years through to the more familiar 11-year sunspot cycles, variations in the amount of solar energy reaching Earth have a huge influence on our atmosphere and climate. But the Sun is far from being the only player. How do we know? According to solar physicists, the sun emitted a third less energy about 4 billion years ago and has been steadily brightening ever since. Yet for most of this time, Earth has been even warmer than today, a phenomenon sometimes called the faint sun paradox. The reason: higher levels of greenhouse gases trapping more of the sun’s heat…” Read the rest.

5) The CO2 emissions caused by humans are too small to really make a difference.
“Ice cores show that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have remained between 180 and 300 parts per million for the past half-a-million years. In recent centuries, however, CO2 levels have risen sharply, to at least 380 ppm. So what’s going on? It is true that human emissions of CO2 are small compared with natural sources. But the fact that CO2 levels have remained steady until very recently shows that natural emissions are usually balanced by natural absorptions. Now slightly more CO2 must be entering the atmosphere than is being soaked up by carbon ’sinks’…” Read the rest.

6) Higher Co2 levels will increase plant growth and food production.
“According to some accounts, the rise in carbon dioxide will usher in a new golden age where food production will be higher than ever before and most plants and animals will thrive as never before. If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is…” Read the rest.

7) Its been much warmer in the past. What is the big deal?
“First of all, it is worth bearing in mind that any data on global temperatures before about 150 years ago is an estimate, a reconstruction based on second-hand evidence such as ice cores and isotopic ratios. The evidence becomes sparser the further back we look, and its interpretation often involves a set of assumptions. In other words, a fair amount of guesswork…” Read the rest.

8 ) We’re just recovering from a little Ice Age.
“Some climate sceptics argue that the warming we are now experiencing is simply due to the planet recovering from the Little Ice Age, a period of regionally cold conditions between roughly AD 1350 and 1850. But the key question is why it was colder during the Little Ice Age. And why didn’t the climate remain that way, or even get colder still?…” Read the rest.

9) Antarctica is getting cooler, not warmer, which disproves global warming.
“There is much uncertainty over exactly how Antarctica’s climate is changing. There are few weather stations, most are on the edge rather than in the interior of the continent and records go back just a few decades. Climate models do not predict an evenly spread warming of the whole planet: changes in wind patterns and ocean currents can change the distribution of heat, leading to some parts warming much faster than average, while others cool at first. What matters is the overall picture, and global temperature maps show far more areas are warming than cooling…” Read the rest.

10) It’s too cold where I live. Global warming will be great!
“How climate warming will affect you? It depends on where you live, how long you will live, what you do for a living and for fun - and whether you care about the future of your children or humanity in general. Global warming is already happening. Just about every part of the planet, except for Antarctica has warmed since 1970. Glaciers are melting, spring is coming earlier and the ranges of many plants and animals are shifting polewards. For most people, this has made little difference…” Read the rest.