Is climate change real?

YesSays it is contested

Is climate change real? I'll gather the latest scientific evidence to answer you.

Yes — climate change is real, and this is the position of the overwhelming majority of climate scientists and major scientific organizations based on multiple lines of evidence.

The scientific consensus

> There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the Earth is warming and that human activities, especially the emission of greenhouse gases, are the primary cause.

•Multiple large-scale assessments, including those by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have established a strong consensus among climate scientists that global warming is real and largely human-induced.

•Studies analyzing thousands of peer-reviewed papers show that over 97% of those expressing a position agree that humans are causing global warming.

•A consensus, based on current evidence, now exists within the global scientific community that human activities are the main source of climate change and that the burning of fossil fuels is largely responsible for driving this change.

•The United States National Academy of Sciences stated: "A strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks".

While a small number of studies have questioned the extent of human influence, these views represent a very small minority in the scientific literature and are not supported by the bulk of observational data and peer-reviewed research.

How we know

1. Unequivocal warming observed:

NASA states:

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

Earth-orbiting satellites and new technologies have helped scientists collect many different types of information about our planet and its climate all over the world, revealing the signs and patterns of a changing climate.

•According to temperature analysis led by 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.

More recent indicators show that for the decade 2014-2023, observed warming was about 1.19°C above pre-industrial levels, with the rate of warming over the last decade at about 0.26°C per decade - described as unprecedented in the instrumental record.

While natural variability plays some part, the preponderance of evidence indicates that human activities—particularly emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases—are mostly responsible.

2. Human greenhouse gases are the main driver:

The IPCC has concluded:

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

•The IPCC officially declared that "most of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations", not the sun or natural climate fluctuations.

•The IPCC is now 95 percent certain that humans are the main cause of current global warming, and stated "human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history".

In short: The Earth is warming, it is happening faster than at any point in the modern record, and human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are the dominant cause, according to NASA, the IPCC, and overwhelming peer-reviewed literature.

Citations (2)

1consensus.appData and tools
Global Warming Scientific Evidence - Consensus Academic Search Engine
Backs: “Yes — climate change is real, and this is the position of the overwhelming majority of climate scientists and major scientific organizations based on multiple lines of evidence. The scientific consensus. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the Earth is warming and that human activities, especially the…”
evidence, article, points to yes. Claim: Overwhelming scientific evidence shows Earth is warming and human activities, especially greenhouse gas emissions, are the primary cause; strong consensus among climate scientists.
2nasa.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, with human activity the principal cause.