No, climate change isn’t driven by solar activity and lunar phases

PolitiFact ^ | November 29, 2022 | By Andy Nguyen

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The consensus within the scientific community is that human activity fuels global climate change, but a video clip shared on Instagram on Nov. 13 featuring a known climate skeptic claims people aren’t to blame.

In the video, Piers Corbyn, an astrophysicist, said heat waves are caused by "certain circulation patterns" from solar activity and phases of the moon.

"These things are dictated by solar activity and the moon," Corbyn said in the video, an excerpt from his 2010 appearance on Russia Today, a Russian state-funded news channel. "They have nothing to do with mankind."

He accused people who say human activity contributes to climate change of "just trying to make money.”

Our ruling:

An Instagram post says climate change is "dictated by solar activity and the moon" and has "nothing to do with mankind."

Scientists found that the sun and moon do affect Earth’s climate, but their influence is small and does not account for the rapid planetary climate changes of the last several decades.

An overwhelming number of scientists and scientific organizations agree that human activity significantly affects climate change.

We rate this claim False.

[usconservative]

Remember the Time Magazine cover that said we were all going to freeze to death?

[citizen]

Remember when we had less than 12 years to save the planet according to Algore?

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Algor: "The Earth HAS A FEVER!"

[ro_dreaming]

You need to wake up and live in fear and guilt, like our “leaders” tell you to be!

The problem is they aren’t living the way they say; IE - “the oceans will rise X feet” - then they buy ocean front property worth millions.

Internal combustion cars/trucks/boats/planes cause CO2 and global warming, but they have dozens of cars/trucks and take private planes (rather than mass transit public air transportation) everywhere or private yachts instead of Royal Carribbean.