Hot Air and Cold Truths: Collected Essays on the Myths and Realities of Climate Change

By Bjørn Lomborg.

• This series of essays challenges the prevailing alarmist narratives surrounding climate change and argues for a more balanced approach to environmental policy, emphasizing the need for cost-effective solutions that prioritize human well-being, economic growth, and technological innovation over costly, inefficient mandates.
• While climate change requires action, the current rhetoric is detached from empirical evidence. Overstating risks leads to policies that divert attention from more pressing global challenges, such as poverty, disease, and malnutrition.
• Much of the climate debate fixates on rising temperatures, yet cold weather kills far more people than heat. Aggressive emissions cuts raise energy costs and paradoxically increase suffering, making heating and cooling less affordable.
• Heavily subsidized green initiatives such as wind and solar energy, and electric vehicle mandates, deliver minimal emissions reductions at a very high cost.
• Activists often blame climate change for hunger, but the data tells a different story. Famines today are overwhelmingly caused by conflict and poor governance, not climate change.
• The net-zero agenda—which is likely to cost about CAD $38 trillion per year over this century—is politically unsustainable. Poor nations will not adopt climate policies without trillions in aid. Even if countries like Canada bankrupt themselves pursuing net zero, the impact would be negligible (less than 0.02° C by 2100).
• Well-intentioned but poorly designed climate policies disproportionately harm the world’s poorest. If we care about equity, we should prioritize economic growth and energy access.
• By focusing on smart, cost-effective solutions, we can create a more sustainable and equitable future for all.