Overwhelming evidence that humans are causing global warming, say scientists

As temperature records were broken last week in three European nations, scientists now seem to be of one mind about Climate Change. 

Extensive historical data has informed three studies, published in Nature and Nature Geoscience. These show that temperature changes over the last 2,000 years have never been as fast and extensive as in recent decades. 

It was previously believed that similar dramatic peaks and troughs, including the ‘Little Ice Age’ and ‘Medieval Climate Anomaly’ had occurred in the past. It now seems that major temperature shifts in the past were linked to volcanic activity. 

What is different now is that experts almost universally agree that recent unusual warming is a result of human factors. Vehicle exhausts, factory chimneys, forest clearance and other sources of greenhouse gas are responsible for the ‘exceptional level of global warming’ reports The Guardian.

“There is no doubt left – as has been shown extensively in many other studies addressing many different aspects of the climate system using different methods and data sets,” said Stefan Brönnimann, from the University of Bern and the Pages 2K consortium of climate scientists.

“This paper should finally stop climate change deniers claiming that the recent observed coherent global warming is part of a natural climate cycle. This paper shows the truly stark difference between regional and localised changes in climate of the past and the truly global effect of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions,” said Mark Maslin, professor of climatology at University College London.

Scientist John Cook, lead author on a past global warming consensus paper, agrees. Writing on the Skeptical Science blog he says, “As expertise in climate science increases, so too does agreement with human-caused global warming. The good news is public understanding of the scientific consensus is increasing.”