how human beings are responsible for global warming and measures to reduce it
Answers
Earth's surface has undergone unprecedented warming over the last century, and especially in this century.
Every single year since 1977 has been warmer than the 20th century average, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 2001, and 2016 being the warmest year on recorded history. A study from 2016 found that without the emissions from burning coal and oil, there is very little likelihood that 13 out of the 15 warmest years on record would all have happened.
As any farmer can tell, the natural patterns of climate have been altered.
We know that warming—and cooling—has happened in the past, and long before humans were around. Many factors (called “climate drivers”) can influence Earth’s climate—such as changes in the sun’s intensity and volcanic eruptions, as well as heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
A figure showing the IPCC's acknowledgement of human-caused warming overtime
The scientific evidence suggests that it is highly likely that humans are causing global warming.
IPCC
But, what’s causing today’s unprecedented warming—are humans part of the cause?
Scientists have devised different methods to answer this question. Meteorologists and oceanographers compare the climate patterns they observe with patterns developed using sophisticated models of Earth's atmosphere and ocean. By matching the observed and modeled patterns, scientists can positively identify the "human fingerprints" associated with the changes, and they can also attribute the proportion of those changes to human activities.
The fingerprints that humans have left on Earth's climate are turning up in a diverse range of records and can be seen in the ocean, in the atmosphere, and on the Earth’s surface.
Scientists agree that today’s warming is primarily caused by humans putting too much carbon in the atmosphere, like when we choose to extract and burn coal, oil, and gas, or cut down and burn forests.
Scientists have gathered REPORTS & MULTIMEDIA
REPORTS & MULTIMEDIA / EXPLAINER
How Do We Know that Humans Are the Major Cause of Global Warming?
Published Jul 14, 2009 Updated Aug 1, 2017
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Warming and cooling have happened before—but not like this. How do we know humans are causing the current explosive rise in temperatures?
A map showing human impacts on global warming
10 Signs of a Warming World
IPCC AR5
Unprecedented warming
Earth's surface has undergone unprecedented warming over the last century, and especially in this century.
Every single year since 1977 has been warmer than the 20th century average, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 2001, and 2016 being the warmest year on recorded history. A study from 2016 found that without the emissions from burning coal and oil, there is very little likelihood that 13 out of the 15 warmest years on record would all have happened.
As any farmer can tell, the natural patterns of climate have been altered.
We know that warming—and cooling—has happened in the past, and long before humans were around. Many factors (called “climate drivers”) can influence Earth’s climate—such as changes in the sun’s intensity and volcanic eruptions, as well as heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
A figure showing the IPCC's acknowledgement of human-caused warming overtime
The scientific evidence suggests that it is highly likely that humans are causing global warming.
IPCC
But, what’s causing today’s unprecedented warming—are humans part of the cause?
Scientists have devised different methods to answer this question. Meteorologists and oceanographers compare the climate patterns they observe with patterns developed using sophisticated models of Earth's atmosphere and ocean. By matching the observed and modeled patterns, scientists can positively identify the "human fingerprints" associated with the changes, and they can also attribute the proportion of those changes to human activities.
The fingerprints that humans have left on Earth's climate are turning up in a diverse range of records and can be seen in the ocean, in the atmosphere, and on the Earth’s surface.
Scientists agree that today’s warming is primarily caused by humans putting too much carbon in the atmosphere, like when we choose to extract and burn coal, oil, and gas, or cut down and burn forests.
Scientists have gathered evidence and have improved their methods for teasing apart natural and human factors. Today, scientists have very high confidence about human-caused global average surface temperature increase—a key climate indicator. Their growing confidence can be seen through the successive climate assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
How You Can Stop Global Warming
- Speak up! ...
- Power your home with renewable energy. ...
- Weatherize, weatherize, weatherize. ...
- Invest in energy-efficient appliances. ...
- Reduce water waste. ...
- Actually eat the food you buy—and make less of it meat. ...
- Buy better bulbs. ...
- Pull the plug(s).