"Do you know what this is?" Standing in the middle of the US Senate, Jim Inhofe produced a white lump. "It's a snowball. It's just from outside here, so it's very, very cold out." Then he threw it across the room. "Mr President, catch this!"

Inhofe claimed there was no such thing as global warming. Though climate change clearly produces both extremely hot and extremely cold weather, he accepted a popular myth. Below are seven more.

1 Phase craze A common argument is that global warming is part of a natural cycle which causes periods of hotter and colder weather. But the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice AgeA climate interval of much cooler weather that occurred in Britain in the 17th century and lead to several big freezes. just affected part of the world and happened over huge periods of time. Now dramatic changes affecting the whole planet happen in decades. Global temperatures are the highest since records began.

2 Spotty dotty Some people blame sunspots for global warming. But records for the past 24 years show no increase in solar energy reaching Earth.

3 CO2 to-do Because carbon dioxide makes up only a tiny fraction of the atmosphere, some say increases are irrelevant. But they actually have a huge impact.

4 Disputing renewables Green energy is sometimes dismissed as too expensive. But solar power and wind turbines in fact produce the cheapest electricity.

5 Science defiance It is claimed that scientists are deeply divided about the existence of climate change. But only 3% of them are not convinced.

6 Zoo hullabaloo It has been suggested that animals will be safe from climate change because they evolve to deal with new conditions. But many will not be able to adapt fast enough.

7 Raging at Beijing It is often argued that since China is doing so much damage to the environment the rest of the world is helpless. But China is also one of the largest investors in renewable energy.

Yes: Most people accept that radical action is needed, but it only takes a small minority of people who believe myths - such as Brazil's President Bolsonaro - to make the necessary targets unreachable.  

No: We have all the technology we need to stop and reverse climate change. It is just a case of political will - and extreme weather events are waking voters up to the reality of the issue.

Or... It is not the planet that needs saving - it is humans and animals. The Earth would survive in one form or another, and might be much healthier, if there were no humans left to interfere with it.