Are humans responsible for climate change?

I'll gather the latest scientific evidence on humanity's role in climate change.

Yes, according to the overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus, humans are responsible for modern climate change — specifically the rapid warming observed since the mid-20th century.

Scientific Consensus

> A consensus, based on current evidence, now exists within the global scientific community that human activities are the main source of climate change and that the burning of fossil fuels is largely responsible for driving this change.

Major scientific bodies concur with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) view:

•The IPCC itself concluded this with increasing certainty - from '90 percent certainty' in its Fourth Assessment to at least 90 per cent certain human activity is responsible for most of the observed temperature increase since the 1950s, to 95 percent certainty that humans have caused most of the warming of the planet's surface that has occurred since the 1950s.

•The most recent IPCC AR6 report's headline finding is that climate change is "unequivocally" caused by human activities. Other summaries state: “The IPCC has reviewed and confirmed — yet again — the clear human influence on the climate in the form of fossil fuel burning and global warming”, and that the IPCC confirmed that humans were responsible for virtually all the global temperature increases over the last 200 years.

•The IPCC represents a clear scientific consensus that humans are responsible for climate change.

Quantitative studies of the literature show the same:

> Multiple independent efforts to quantify expert agreement show overwhelming consensus that recent warming is anthropogenic: surveys and literature reviews find agreement in the high‑90s percentiles, with studies reporting consensus figures from ~97% to greater than 99%

More specifically:

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

•A 2019 review 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 2021 study found that 98.7% of climate experts indicated that the Earth is getting warmer mostly because of human activity

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

NASA, NOAA and other agencies agree:

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

•NOAA / NASA: “Human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming”

•NOAA Climate.gov: "Yes, by increasing the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, human activities are amplifying Earth’s natural greenhouse effect. Virtually all climate scientists agree that this increase in heat-trapping gases is the main reason for the 1.8°F (1.0°C) rise in global average temperature since the late nineteenth century."

How humans cause warming

The human activities causing this warming include fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and land use changes such as deforestation, with a significant supporting role from the other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Natural climate forcings include changes in the sun’s energy output, regular changes in Earth’s orbital cycle, and large volcanic eruptions, while human-caused forcings include emissions of heat-trapping gases and changes in land use.

The human role is considered "unequivocal" and "incontrovertible", and:

> It is "unequivocal" and "incontrovertible" that the greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have caused warming on land, in oceans and in the troposphere. There are no natural processes which can provide an alternate explanation.

Analysis found:

> Humans emissions and activities have caused around 100% of the warming observed since 1950, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth assessment report.

Evidence includes that:

•Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and various chlorofluorocarbons are all human-emitted heat-trapping gases

•At present, humans are putting an estimated 9.5 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year by burning fossil fuels, and another 1.5 billion through deforestation and other land cover changes, with a net 5 billion metric tons remaining in the atmosphere each year

•Since 1750, humans have increased the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by nearly 50 percent

Citations (3)

1wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
Scientific consensus on climate change
Backs: “A consensus, based on current evidence, now exists within the global scientific community that human activities are the main source of climate change and that the burning of fossil fuels is largely responsible for driving this change. Major scientific bodies concur with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…”
2nasa.govGovernment
Global warming consensus – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet
Backs: “NASA: "There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate.”
3climate.govGovernment
Are humans causing or contributing to global warming?
Backs: “NOAA Climate.gov: "Yes, by increasing the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, human activities are amplifying Earth’s natural greenhouse effect. Virtually all climate scientists agree that this increase in heat-trapping gases is the main reason for the 1.8°F (1.0°C) rise in global average temperature…”