Changes in Earth’s climate are consistent with an increase in heat-trapping greenhouse gases due to human activities, including burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and land-use changes. This warming phenomenon has its source in human activities like burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas).
Increased concentrations of these gases are also contributing to more complex climate processes that accelerate, including Arctic sea ice reduction and energy transfer from ocean to atmosphere.
Climate change is happening.
Scientists agree on one point: climate change is real and human activity is the cause. Earth has experienced climate changes throughout history, but nothing compares with the rapid global temperature rise we’ve witnessed since mid-20th century. Human activities largely contribute to this rate of warming as fossil fuel use creates heat-trapping greenhouse gasses which trap heat inside our atmosphere and lead to warming trends like this one.
As these gases absorb and trap solar heat, they warm the planet while altering natural systems – this phenomenon is known as the greenhouse effect and it’s the main driver behind climate change. Interacting gases further amplify initial warming processes and lead to further changes; for instance, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases found in air can deplete stratospheric ozone levels which in turn leads to further warming effects.
Recent studies show that human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, are driving global warming. Human actions increase heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially CO2. Scientists can measure old carbon in modern atmosphere and compare it with past levels – this evidence confirms that current CO2 levels exceed those before the Industrial Revolution.
Global temperatures are increasing at an alarming rate and they’re impacting everyone, everywhere. Altering weather patterns put our lives in jeopardy – from devastating floods and prolonged drought to sea level rise and sea level remapping – even leading to food shortages, loss of biodiversity, more frequent extreme weather events that damage infrastructure and harm communities.
Weather fluctuations will continue naturally, yet scientific evidence overwhelmingly points to climate change as being real and having serious repercussions now. Without swift action to reduce our emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, risks will only worsen further – often leaving the poorest countries and people of color to bear its brunt.
It’s caused by humans.
Human activities have been the primary contributor to climate change over the last century, particularly the combustion of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal that produce carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 traps heat in the atmosphere and warms our planet; other human influences include deforestation, changes to land cover and water use.
These changes alter our planet’s energy balance, affecting global temperatures and weather patterns as well as biodiversity, food safety and availability, water scarcity, poverty, conflict and migration. Climate change affects everyone.
Climate can be affected by both natural forces like volcanic eruptions and human activities like deforestation; however, human activities have the greatest effect. A major contributor is carbon dioxide (a “heat trapping gas”) from human activity – whether through burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil or natural gas or deforestation, agriculture or land-use changes as well as deforestation, agriculture or any other means.
Arrhenius first proposed in 1859 that rising atmospheric CO2 levels may contribute to global warming; however, his work failed to gain widespread support at that time as geologic evidence showed ice ages occurring over thousands of years and laboratory experiments suggested changes in CO2 levels had little bearing on heat absorption.
Carbon isotope measurements provide scientists with compelling evidence of our role in driving recent increases in carbon dioxide. Scientists can use carbon isotope measurements to distinguish between “older” carbon molecules produced through burning fossil fuels and natural living system production; and “newer” lighter carbon atoms produced through living systems – with the older carbon having its own distinctive isotopic fingerprint making its identification straightforward.
Scientific studies are increasingly exploring the impact of human-driven climate change on various aspects of life. Researchers have demonstrated how higher CO2 levels make extreme events–like the 2003 European heatwave that killed tens of thousands–more likely. Climate change also made record temperatures during Hurricane Harvey three times more likely.
It’s dangerous.
Scientists, researchers, and affected individuals worldwide report changes that go beyond normal temperature fluctuations on land and in the oceans, rainfall patterns, and many other systems on our planet. These anomalous changes are evidence of global warming caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation that increase heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants accumulate for decades to centuries in our atmosphere, blocking out part of Earth’s heat radiation from escaping into space and thus contributing to climate change. Even slight increases in average global temperatures can trigger shifts in weather patterns or extreme events such as record floods, violent storms or deadly heat waves – potentially increasing risks significantly.
Current atmospheric CO2 concentration levels are the highest they’ve been in 650,000 years – an indicator of human-caused environmental degradation. Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have contributed to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations through burning of fossil fuels and extensive deforestation activities.
CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase further, leading to further climate change due to energy use, economic development and population growth. This poses serious concerns as many experts recognize that current rates of energy usage, economic development and population expansion will lead to sustained climate change with potentially dramatic consequences.
As our planet warms, glaciers and ice sheets melt, sea levels rise and disrupt natural ecosystems on Earth – impacting food production, water availability, coastal communities and many other aspects of life on our beautiful but fragile Earth. These changes have already had serious repercussions that are destabilizing ecosystems across our beautiful yet vulnerable world.
Some impacts may be reversible, while many will not. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we are nearing “tipping points”, thresholds past which changes may accelerate irrevocably and become irreversible – including Arctic ice melt and Greenland ice sheet collapse and degradation of coral reefs. Most vulnerable people across the planet, especially economically disadvantaged and people of color will bear the brunt of these shifts.
It’s our responsibility.
Atmospheric change has long been driven by natural processes, including volcanic activity and changes to solar output, but they do not account for recent rises in global temperatures caused by human activities like fossil fuel burning, increasing ocean heat content, and shifting air circulation patterns.
Over 97% of scientists agree that humans are the cause of climate change. Human activities, like burning fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal), create greenhouse gases which act like blankets around our planet and trap solar energy, warming global temperatures. Carbon dioxide levels used to fluctuate naturally due to volcanic activity or animal breathing out oxygen into their systems but since the Industrial Revolution humans have produced unprecedented quantities of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that have contributed significantly to temperature rise worldwide.
Human-caused climate impacts that we are currently witnessing include rising sea levels, shrinking mountain glaciers, increased Greenland and Antarctica ice melt rates and altered rainfall patterns; shifting rain-fall patterns; altered rain-to-sun ratios; altered rain-droplet distribution patterns and shifting flower/plant bloom times – impacts that were not anticipated by scientists earlier. Scientists’ projections will likely continue to accelerate.
Climate change impacts all people worldwide, yet is already having devastating effects. Wildfires, hurricanes, flooding and drought are already occurring and endangering food production, homes and livelihoods; those most at risk include those living in poverty as well as communities that experience gender, racial or economic disparities.
Good news is that it is indeed feasible for us to reduce emissions and limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less with significant reductions in fossil fuel and other harmful chemical consumption. Unfortunately, however, Big Oil lobbyists and their supporters are doing all they can to sow doubt and delay meaningful climate action.
Our planet needs our collective effort and action now more than ever; together we must enact policies to achieve rapid, deep and permanent reductions of greenhouse gas emissions required to secure its future.
