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GPT-5Sep 10, 2026openai/gpt-5-2025-08-07
Is climate change real?
Yes
Yes. Climate change is real, and the dominant cause of the warming since the mid‑20th century is human activity—mainly burning fossil fuels and deforestation.
Key evidence:
•Global temperature: Earth has warmed about 1.2°C since the late 1800s, with the past decade the warmest on record.
•Greenhouse gases: CO2 has risen from ~280 ppm pre‑industrial to over 420 ppm today; isotope and energy‑balance measurements trace the increase to fossil fuels.
•Oceans: Over 90% of excess heat goes into the oceans; ocean heat content is at record highs and marine heatwaves are increasing.
•Ice and snow: Rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, retreating glaciers worldwide, and mass loss from Greenland and Antarctica.
•Sea level: Global sea level has risen about 20 cm since 1900, with the rate accelerating.
•Extreme events: Increases in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, heavy rainfall, some droughts, and wildfire weather.
•Physical “fingerprints”: Warming lower atmosphere with a cooling stratosphere, more longwave radiation trapped—patterns expected from greenhouse gases, not the Sun or volcanoes.
There is overwhelming scientific consensus on these points (see IPCC AR6, 2021–2023). Good sources:
•IPCC: ipcc.ch
•NASA Climate: climate.nasa.gov
•NOAA Climate: climate.gov
If you’d like, I can summarize impacts for your region or steps that make the biggest difference.