Is climate change real?

Yes

I'll gather the latest scientific evidence to address your question about climate change.

Yes — climate change is real, and there is very strong scientific evidence and consensus that it is happening and that human activity is the principal cause.

1. Unequivocal evidence of warming

NASA states:

> There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause.

This evidence comes from:

> The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures

and many other independent lines of data, collected over many years by Earth-orbiting satellites and other technologies

Key indicators include:

•Global temperature: The preponderance of evidence indicates that human activities—particularly emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases—are making our planet warmer

According to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS):

> the average global temperature on Earth has increased by at least 1.1° Celsius (1.9° Fahrenheit) since 1880. The majority of the warming has occurred since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15 to 0.20°C per decade.

•Sea level and ice: Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of seawater as it warms.

Most of the observed sea-level rise (about 3 mm per year) is coming from the meltwater of land-based ice sheets and mountain glaciers, which adds to the ocean's volume (about 2 mm per year combined), and from thermal expansion, or the ocean water's expansion as it warms (roughly 1 mm per year).

•Extreme weather: Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have "led to an increased frequency and/or intensity of some weather and climate extremes since pre-industrial times"

2. Scientific consensus

There is an overwhelming consensus among climate scientists:

•Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change.

•A 2019 review of scientific papers found the consensus on the cause of climate change to be at 100%, and a 2021 study concluded that over 99% of scientific papers agree on the human cause of climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, concluded that it is extremely likely (95-100% probability) that most of the warming since 1950 has been due to human influence.

In short, while natural variability plays some part, the long-term warming trend, sea-level rise, ice loss, and increase in certain extreme weather events are attributed by the scientific community to human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily from burning fossil fuels.

Citations (2)

1nasa.govGovernment
Climate Change - NASA Science
Backs: “NASA states: There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate.”
attribution, article, points to yes. Claim: NASA states there is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate and human activity is the principal cause.
2nasa.govGovernment
World of Change: Global Temperatures - NASA Science
Backs: “and many other independent lines of data, collected over many years by Earth-orbiting satellites and other technologies. Key indicators include: Global temperature: The preponderance of evidence indicates that human activities—particularly emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases—are making our planet warmer”
evidence, article, points to yes. Claim: Evidence indicates human greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet; global temperature has risen at least 1.1°C since 1880.