The last man, as of yet, to walk on the surface of the moon doesn't believe that humans are responsible for climate change. Former NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who might have seen our home planet from the space, has stated that he doesn't think global climate change is caused by human actions.
Harrison Schmitt, who was a geologist, had flown to the moon in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission, which was the last manned mission to the lunar surface. Schmitt, the last living person to have visited the lunar surface, recently said that he doesn't believe that humans have caused climate change despite the fact that an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence points to it.
Schmitt recently took part in the Science Writers 2018 conference in Washington, D.C. He appeared in a panel about the American space programme's past, present and future, titles 'Apollo Plus 50.' Following the panel, a reporter from the New York Times, Nicholas St. Fleur asked Schmitt about his strong opinions about human-influenced climate change, as his denials are well documented.
Schmitt promptly answered that he has seen "no evidence" to prove the fact that human actions are causing global warming. He also added that climate change is actually not occurring as fast as the reports are showing, astrophysicist Adam Becker, who was present in the audience, posted in a Twitter thread.
Apparently, Schmitt is quite well known for denying scientifically proven facts about climate change. In 2011, Discover Magazine had reported that "he's a climate change denialist" and that "he's been using blatantly wrong information to support his arguments."
In another such instance, in a 2013 Wall Street Journal article, which Schmitt co-wrote along with an American physicist William Happer, he claimed that the rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) is actually good for the world, as it would benefit humanity. The name of the article, unsurprisingly, was 'Harrison H. Schmitt and William Happer: In Defense of Carbon Dioxide.'
In the recent Q&A recording, Schmitt explained that Earth has witnessed climate change in the past; so "the only question is, 'Is there any evidence that human beings are causing that change?'" As soon as Schmitt uttered those words, the audience replied with a loud and chorus "Yes!" However, that didn't seem to distract Schmitt, as he went on to say that in his profession, which is geology, he found no evidence of the fact that humans influence the climate.
There are only models and models are "often wrong," he added. A geologist in the audience, Betsy Mason, didn't take the statement well and promptly cut to say, Schmitt "should reconsider speaking for all geologists on that topic." Mason is also a writer for National Geographic.
It's significant to note that The Geological Society of London had concluded in a statement, which was published in 2010, that humans were the very cause behind the rapid increase of climate change. The society members further wrote an addendum to the statement in 2013 explaining the fact that the data show that "CO2 is a major modifier of the climate system, and that human activities are responsible for recent warming."
