Is climate change real?

Is climate change real? I'll gather the latest scientific evidence to address your question.

Yes, climate change is real and the scientific evidence is unequivocal.

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

Scientific Consensus

Major scientific organizations, including NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have gathered data from a variety of sources, all pointing to the same conclusion: climate change is happening, and it's largely due to human actions.

The scientific consensus is clear: global climate change is real and humans are very likely the cause for this change. Additionally, the major scientific agencies of the United States, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), also agree that climate change is occurring and that humans are driving it.

Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities.

Claims that there is "no consensus" are false. The majority of international scientists and scientific institutions, including NASA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, largely agree that scientific evidence -- not opinion -- suggests that climate change is real.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact."

The IPCC AR6 concludes that it is unequivocal that humans have caused the earth's climate to warm, with a likely human contribution of 0.8 to 1.3 degrees Celsius to global mean temperature since the late 1800s, and estimated average global surface temperature during 2011–2020 at about 1.1°C above the 1850–1900 baseline.

Key Evidence

While Earth's climate has changed throughout its history, the current warming is happening at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years.

The current warming trend is different because it is clearly the result of human activities since the mid-1800s, and is proceeding at a rate not seen over many recent millennia. It is undeniable that human activities have produced the atmospheric gases that have trapped more of the Sun's energy in the Earth system.

Specific evidence includes:

•Temperature: +1.1°C since 1850 (NASA, NOAA). More detailed measurements show:

•The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities.

•When different teams of climate scientists in different agencies (e.g., NOAA and NASA) average these data together, they all find essentially the same result: Earth's average surface temperature has risen by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) since 1880.

•Rate of change: Current warming is occurring roughly 10 times faster than the average rate of warming after an ice age. Carbon dioxide from human activities is increasing about 250 times faster than it did from natural sources after the last Ice Age.

•Other indicators: From global temperature rise to melting ice sheets, the evidence of a warming planet abounds. This includes:

•The ocean has absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 100 meters of ocean showing warming of 0.67 degrees Fahrenheit (0.33 degrees Celsius) since 1969

•The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass

•Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world

•Global sea level rose about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century

•Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades

Citations (1)

1nasa.govGovernment
Climate Change - NASA Science
Backs: “Yes, climate change is real and the scientific evidence is unequivocal. There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate.”