Views and reasons why climate change is real

Human caused climate change is real, and it is important. It has such monumental implications that governments around the world have been coming together since the 1980s to work out how best to address it. Yet the scientific consensus that we are changing the climate is constantly being challenged by those who have financial or other interests in the continued use of fossil fuels. This has resulted in a "consensus gap" whereby a measurable, though shrinking, the proportion of the general public is not sure that anthropogenic climate change is real or important. Unfortunately, this consensus gap allows for those who do not respect the science to parachute in now and then to help maintain a beachhead of denial.

The signs of climate change are all around us. Warming is proceeding very quickly compared to previous changes in Earth's history. It is not merely that humans will be living in a warmer world than any human has experienced, warmer than any period since before humans evolved. It is the pace of change. This means that many species will have no time to adapt. Scientists at Stanford have warned that we are on track to warm ten times faster than at any time in the past 65 million years.

It's getting hotter. The mean global surface temperature is increasing, very quickly. This can be seen by monitoring temperatures changes on land and sea. Gardeners, farmers and wine producers know that planting zones are shifting to the poles; northwards in the northern hemisphere, and southwards below the equator. Spring snow has shown a marked decline in the northern hemisphere.

Sea level is rising. This is because the oceans are getting warmer (expansion of water) and ice sheets and glaciers are melting.

Heat waves are worse than they used to be. The heat wave in India earlier this year was among the most deadly ever recorded anywhere. There have been disastrous heat waves in Europe this century as well, which were most likely exacerbated by global warming.