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GPT-5Nov 5, 2026openai/gpt-5-2025-08-07
Are humans responsible for climate change?
Yes. The overwhelming scientific evidence shows humans are the primary cause of recent climate change.
Why scientists say this:
•Greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industry have increased CO2 and methane to levels unseen in at least 800,000 years, trapping extra heat.
•The “fingerprints” match human causes: the lower atmosphere warms while the stratosphere cools; nights and winters warm faster than days and summers; the oceans accumulate most of the excess heat.
•The carbon in the air bears a fossil-fuel isotopic signature and oxygen levels fall as carbon is burned.
•Climate models only reproduce the observed warming since the mid‑20th century when human emissions are included; natural factors alone (sun, volcanoes) cannot explain it.
•Net effect: humans have warmed the planet by about 1.2°C since the late 1800s, and essentially all the warming since 1950 is human‑caused.
Natural variability still exists, but it rides on top of a human‑driven warming trend. Cutting emissions can limit future warming.