Climate change scientists agree that the planet is heating up because of human activities. There has been cataclysmic climate change before – caused by volcanoes or meteorites – but temperatures have never risen so fast over such a short timeframe.
- Greenhouse gas levels and global temperatures are rising faster than for at least 20,000 years and have never risen so fast in such a short timescale.
- Sea levels are rising.
- The oceans are heating up, becoming more acidic and absorbing less carbon dioxide.
- The polar ice sheets are melting and the North Pole is now like to be ice-free in summer well before 2050.
- Virtually all the world’s glaciers are in retreat, with disastrous consequences for water supplies in some parts of the world.
- Weather patterns are becoming more extreme and flooding events more common.
