"Do you know what this is?" Standing in the US Senate, Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma rummaged in a plastic bag and produced a white lump. "It's a snowball. It's just from outside here, so it's very, very cold out... very unseasonable." Then he threw it across the room.

Inhofe's stunt was supposed to prove there was no global warming. But, climate change produces extreme conditions of many kinds, including spells of extremely hot and extremely cold weather. Inhofe accepted a popular myth. Below are seven more.

1 Phase craze The most common argument by climate-change sceptics is that humans are not responsible for the crisis. Instead, they claim it is part of a natural cycle that caused the Medieval Warm Period¹ and the Little Ice Age².

But these just affected part of the world³ and happened over huge periods. We are now seeing dramatic changes which affect the planet happening in decades. Global temperatures⁴ are at their highest since records began.

2 Spotty dotty Some people blame sunspotsStorms on the sun's surface which are accompanied by intense magnetic activity. for global warming. These can affect our climate, but records for 24 years show no increase in the amount of solar energy reaching Earth's surface.

3 CO2 to-do It has been claimed that since carbon dioxide makes up only a tiny fraction⁵ of the atmosphere, rising levels of it are irrelevant. But because it traps heat so effectively, they actually have a huge impact.

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

5 Science defiance Climate-change deniers claim there is no trustworthy scientific consensus on the subject. Studies have found that some scientists share their view - but only 3% of them.

6 Zoo hullabaloo It has been suggested animals will be safe from climate change because they can evolve. But the climate is changing so quickly that many will not be able to adapt fast enough.

7 Raging at Beijing It is often argued since China is doing so much damage there is nothing the rest of the world can do. It is true that China is responsible for a very large proportion of the world's carbon emissions, but it 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.

¹From 900 to 1300.

²From 1300 to 1850.

³North-west Europe, eastern America, Greenland and Iceland.

⁴Since 2001 we have experienced 17 of the 18 warmest years on record. 

⁵Just 0.04%.