Is climate change real?

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

Yes, climate change is real according to the overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus.

Scientific Consensus

The scientific community is certain that the Earth's climate is changing because of the trends that we see in the instrumented climate record and the changes that have been observed in physical and biological systems.

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

•NASA notes: 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.

•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".

Major scientific organizations agree on this. Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change. Most of the leading science organizations around the world have issued public statements expressing this, including international and U.S. science academies, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a whole host of reputable scientific bodies around the world.

Evidence for Rapid Climate Change

NASA and other agencies point to multiple independent lines of evidence, with scientific information taken from natural sources (such as ice cores, rocks, and tree rings) and from modern equipment (like satellites and instruments) all showing the signs of a changing climate.

From global temperature rise to melting ice sheets, the evidence of a warming planet abounds:

•Earth's climate has changed throughout history but 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

•Earth-orbiting satellites and new technologies have helped scientists see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate all over the world

Specific observed changes include:

•Global temperature rise

•Ocean warming

•Shrinking ice sheets and retreating glaciers

•Decreasing snow cover

•Sea level rise

•Declining Arctic sea ice

•Increasing extreme events

•Ocean acidification

The understanding is that human activities have produced atmospheric gases that have trapped more of the Sun's energy in the Earth system, warming the atmosphere, ocean, and land.

In short, while Earth's climate has naturally varied in the past due to factors like very small variations in Earth's orbit, the current warming is unprecedented in rate, unequivocally observed across many systems, and principally driven by human activity.

Citations (1)

1nasa.govGovernment
Evidence - NASA Science
Backs: “There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause. NASA notes: 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.”