Is climate change real?

I'll gather the latest scientific consensus to answer whether climate change is happening.

Yes, climate change is real - this is the established position of the overwhelming majority of climate science.

Scientific Consensus

The scientific consensus is clear: global climate change is real and humans are very likely the cause for this change

Major scientific agencies agree:

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

•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."

Surveys of scientists and of peer-reviewed literature consistently find overwhelming agreement:

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

•In 2013, a study which found that out of over 4,000 peer-reviewed papers on climate science published since 1990, 97% agree, explicitly or implicitly, that global warming is happening

What the Evidence Shows

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 cited by NASA includes:

•Global Temperature Is Rising: 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

•Ocean Warming, Ice Loss, and Sea Level Rise: The ocean has absorbed much of this increased heat, ice sheets are shrinking, glaciers are retreating, and sea level is rising - all measured by satellites, ice cores, tree rings, and other instruments that all show the signs of a changing climate

What Is Causing It

•Human activities, such as burning coal, oil or gas for energy, clearing large forest areas, and some farming practices, have contributed to a significant increase in the level of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases

•The main driver of current climate change is human activity, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which trap the sun's heat in the earth's atmosphere

In short: Natural climate variations exist, but the rapid warming observed since the mid-20th century is unprecedented over millennia, and science shows it is primarily driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases.

Citations (2)

1nasa.govGovernment
Climate Change - NASA Science
Backs: “Major scientific agencies agree: There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate.”
2nasa.govGovernment
Evidence - NASA Science
Backs: “There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause. 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…”