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GPT-5Sep 24, 2026openai/gpt-5-2025-08-07
Is climate change real?
Yes. Climate change is real, and the planet is warming primarily because of human activities—mainly burning fossil fuels and deforestation.
How we know:
•Temperatures: Global average surface temperature has risen by about 1.2°C (2.2°F) since the late 1800s.
•Greenhouse gases: Atmospheric CO2 has climbed from ~280 ppm pre‑industrial to over 420 ppm today.
•Oceans and ice: Oceans are heating up, glaciers and Arctic sea ice are shrinking, and sea level has risen about 8–9 inches since 1880, with the rate accelerating.
•Weather patterns: Heatwaves, heavy rainfall events, and wildfire conditions have become more frequent or intense in many regions.
•Fingerprints of human cause: The specific patterns—troposphere warming with stratosphere cooling, nights warming faster than days, and carbon isotope evidence—match what we expect from greenhouse gases released by humans.
If you’d like, I can go deeper into impacts where you live or what solutions make the biggest difference.