Is climate change real?

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

Yes — climate change is real and happening now, according to the overwhelming body of scientific evidence.

1. What the science says

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

•The body of peer‑reviewed science and major scientific organizations state unequivocally that recent warming is real and that human activity is the primary cause

•There is scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainly the result of a rapid increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by human activities

•This human role in climate change is considered "unequivocal" and "incontrovertible"

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states:

> 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.

2. How strong is the scientific consensus?

•Nearly all actively publishing climate scientists say humans are causing climate change

•A 2019 review of scientific papers found the consensus on the cause of climate change to be at 100%, and a 2021 study concluded that over 99% of scientific papers agree on the human cause of climate change

•Another analysis notes there is scientific consensus that climate change is real, manifested through increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events

No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view.

3. Why the current warming is different

Earth’s climate has changed naturally in the past:

> Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit

However:

> 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

•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

Scientific information taken from natural sources (such as ice cores, rocks, and tree rings) and from modern equipment (like satellites and instruments) all show the signs of a changing climate

4. Key evidence cited by NASA

From NASA's "Evidence" assessment - "From global temperature rise to melting ice sheets, the evidence of a warming planet abounds":

•Global temperature: 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

•Ocean warming: 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. Earth stores 90% of the extra energy in the ocean

•Ice sheets: The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 279 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2019

•Glaciers: Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska, and Africa

•Sea level: Global sea level rose about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century

•Arctic sea ice, snow cover, extreme events and ocean acidification are also documented as declining/increasing rapidly over the last several decades.

In short: climate change is not a natural fluctuation alone — it is real, it is currently happening, it is happening unusually fast, and the dominant cause is human greenhouse gas emissions.

Citations (2)

1wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
Scientific consensus on climate change
Backs: “The body of peer‑reviewed science and major scientific organizations state unequivocally that recent warming is real and that human activity is the primary cause. There is scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is…”
2nasa.govGovernment
Evidence - NASA Science
Backs: “This human role in climate change is considered "unequivocal" and "incontrovertible". The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states: 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.”