According to scientists, the ten warmest years since climate data started being collected on a global scale in 1861 have occurred since 1995. Since the start of the 20th century, the global average surface temperature has risen approximately 0.7°C. However, warming has accelerated dramatically since 1976 and is now at a rate that is approximately three times higher than that of the century-scale trend.
Through the burning of fossil fuels and other activities, humans have pumped large amounts of the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, trapping heat at the Earth’s surface and causing widespread warming worldwide. This is profoundly changing the Earth’s climate.
Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are now 35 per cent higher than at pre-industrial times. Deep ice cores in Antarctica show that the atmosphere now holds more CO2 than at any other time in the past 650,000 years. The link between elevated concentrations of CO2 and global warming is indisputable. Extreme weather events and publication of compelling scientific research in 2006 reinforce that global warming is real and that urgent action is needed to avoid extremely dangerous climate change.
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