Is climate change real?

Does climate change hold up to the evidence? I'll pull the latest science to give you a clear answer.

Yes, climate change is real - this is established by overwhelming scientific evidence.

The scientific consensus is overwhelming

Scientific evidence continues to show that human activities (primarily the human burning of fossil fuels) have warmed Earth's surface and its ocean basins, which in turn have continued to impact Earth's climate.

Major assessments treat human influence as established fact:

> According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact."

On the question of consensus:

•"Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver." (2009)

•"Based on well-established evidence, about 97% of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening." (2014)

•"Based on extensive scientific evidence, it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century."

•A survey of 88,125 climate-related studies found that over 99.9 % of these peer-reviewed articles support the view that humans are causing recent climate change

The IPCC itself states:

> human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming

And:

> "It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land... climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe."

NASA summarizes the position as: There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate, and human activity is the principal cause.

Nearly 200 worldwide scientific organizations hold the position that climate change has been caused by human action.

The evidence comes from multiple independent lines

Scientists use both natural sources (such as ice cores, rocks, and tree rings) and modern equipment (like satellites and instruments) that all show the signs of a changing climate.

Key observations cited by NASA and IPCC include:

1.It is happening faster than natural changes: While Earth's climate has changed throughout its history, the current warming is happening at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years.

2.The current trend is different from natural cycles: The current warming trend is different because it is clearly the result of human activities since the mid-1800s, and is proceeding at a rate not seen over many recent millennia. Ancient paleoclimate evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly 10 times faster than the average rate of warming after an ice age, and carbon dioxide is increasing about 250 times faster than it did from natural sources after the last Ice Age.

3.Global Temperature Is Rising: The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities. Most of the warming occurred in the past 40 years.

4.The Ocean Is Getting Warmer: The ocean has absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 100 meters of ocean showing warming since 1969, and Earth stores 90% of the extra energy in the ocean.

5.Ice sheets and glaciers are shrinking: Data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 279 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2019, while Antarctica lost about 148 billion tons of ice per year. Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska, and Africa.

6.Sea Level Is Rising: Global sea level rose about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and accelerating slightly every year.

7.Other indicators: Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades, and the number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950.

> Scientific information taken from natural sources and from modern equipment all show the signs of a changing climate and From global temperature rise to melting ice sheets, the evidence of a warming planet abounds.

In short, Earth's climate has changed naturally in the past due to factors like very small variations in Earth's orbit, but the rapid warming observed since the mid-20th century cannot be explained by natural causes alone and is attributed to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Citations (2)

1nasa.govGovernment
Scientific Consensus - NASA Science
Backs: “Yes, climate change is real - this is established by overwhelming scientific evidence. The scientific consensus is overwhelming. Scientific evidence continues to show that human activities (primarily the human burning of fossil fuels) have warmed Earth's surface and its ocean basins, which in turn have continued to…”
2nasa.govGovernment
Evidence - NASA Science
Backs: “Scientific evidence continues to show that human activities (primarily the human burning of fossil fuels) have warmed Earth's surface and its ocean basins, which in turn have continued to impact Earth's climate. Major assessments treat human influence as established fact: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on…”