Is climate change real? I'll pull the latest scientific evidence to answer.
Yes, climate change is real — and there is overwhelming scientific evidence for it.
What scientists mean by "real"
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 lines of evidence support this, and data collected over decades by institutions such as NASA, NOAA, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) demonstrates that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are driving measurable increases in global temperatures, sea-level rise, and the frequency of extreme weather events.
On a global scale, the Earth's surface is heating up because of the increasing amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases that have been released into the atmosphere from humans burning fossil fuels.
Key evidence
•Global temperature rise: According to an ongoing temperature analysis led by scientists at 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. Other summaries put the change at about +2°F (~+1°C) since the late 19th century.
•Warmest years on record: Earth's average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record since recordkeeping began in 1880, and independent analyses prepared by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) generally match. 2024 was later confirmed as the warmest year globally in NOAA's record (1850-present).
•Other vital signs: Current global data show:
•Sea level rise rate about 0.17 in/year (4.4 mm/year)
•Arctic September sea ice decline about 12.1% per decade (1979-2024)
•Ice sheet mass loss average since 2002: Greenland ~266 billion tons/year; Antarctica ~135 billion tons/year
•While natural variability plays some part, the preponderance of evidence indicates that human activities — particularly emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases — are mostly responsible. It is extremely unlikely that the Sun has caused the observed global temperature warming trend over the past half-century.
Scientific consensus
•The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing thousands of scientists worldwide, has consistently reported that human activities are the dominant driver of observed warming since the mid-20th century.
•The IPCC has stated it is unequivocal that climate change is occurring and confirms there is at least 95% certainty that human activities are the principal cause. Later assessments state more strongly: Human activities have unequivocally caused global warming and It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
•A strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks.
•The American Association for the Advancement of Science has stated: "The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society".
•Studies of the peer-reviewed literature find an overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree recent climate change is primarily caused by human emissions, with most commonly cited figures at ~97% among publishing climate experts, and literature-only analyses have found agreement exceeding 99%.
The overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree that climate change is real and primarily caused by human activities.
In short: The Earth's climate has changed naturally in the distant past, but the rapid warming observed since the mid-20th century is real, measured by multiple independent datasets, and driven primarily by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.