Is Climate Change a Real Thing?
Scientists from 90 per cent of the world’s scientific community agree that human activity is the primary cause of climate change. Most climate change reports are based on the latest scientific developments. The National Climate Assessment report, for example, was written by scientists at ten different federal agencies and is based on the latest science. The report echoes the findings of thousands of scientists around the world. However, some scientists still doubt that climate change is a real problem.
Observational data from the past two centuries shows that temperatures have increased and that the rates of temperature increase have accelerated. This rate of warming is 10 times faster than the last mass extinction. While scientists are still uncertain about the cause of climate change, they have a solid handle on the factors that affect global temperatures, such as long-term sun fluctuations and sun-dimming ash from large volcanoes.
Despite the evidence, scientists have been able to study previous periods of climatic changes. For example, ice cores from Antarctica show that CO2 concentrations increased tens of millions of years ago and stayed between 260 and 280 ppm for 10,000 years. Other data from ice cores show that the concentrations of greenhouse gases were less than 300 ppm for over 800,000 years. The last two hundred years have seen a spike in CO2 levels, but they have not reached the level of 300 ppm yet.
Although global temperatures are rising, climate change has caused a significant inequity in the world. Richer countries have historically emitted a much higher percentage of greenhouse gases. Similarly, poorer countries have many coastal populations, improvised housing, and limited resources for adaptation. The changes that are taking place will require rethinking cities, engineering coastlines, and changing the way people grow food.
While it is true that climate change is changing, there are people who remain sceptical. Some scientists have ties to the fossil fuel industry, and their claims are not scientifically proven. Some scientists, like Richard Muller, have changed their minds after reassessing historical temperature data. His research team, as part of the Berkeley Earth project, concluded that human activity is contributing to global warming. The scientists disagree, but they do admit that climate change is happening.
While the world’s temperature is increasing, scientists say the average increase has been less than two degrees Celsius. In many parts of the world, land surfaces have warmed up more than twice as much as sea surfaces. Some areas of the Arctic have warmed up five degrees. In addition to this, the loss of snow and ice in high latitudes has caused the ground to absorb more energy, which may lead to further warming.
