What to Know About History of Climate Change

Climate change has strayed from being a scientific conversation to a hot-button political debate. But what are the facts surrounding climate change? Is climate change real? And if it is, what is causing the climate to change? Do we need to live in fear of climate change?

In a three-part “Daily Signal Podcast” series, experts in the fields of climate and meteorology join the show to explain the history of climate change, its root causes, and the appropriate response to it. 

Here in Episode 1, David Legates—a visiting fellow with the Science Advisory Committee in the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at The Heritage Foundation and a former director of the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Delaware—explains the history of climate change. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

According to Legates, “the climate is changing because it always has changed, and it always will change.” 

“We’ve gone through periods of lots of tornadoes, for example, and then a period where we have almost none,” Legates says. “We’ve gone through periods where we have lots of hurricanes. We have floods, we have droughts. We go through periodic cycles. So, the climate is sort of the backdrop on which weather plays its randomness, if you want. So, climate does change, always has changed, and as far as I’m concerned, always will change.”

Legates goes on to explain what is known about climate change through the ages and the similarities between climate change patterns today and those seen in the past. 

Listen to the podcast below: