Is human activity contributing to or causing global warming?

Global Warming is caused by humans. What evidence do we have?

According to a report produced by the UN-sponsored scientific agency, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, scientists are extremely confident that human activity is the primary cause of global warming recorded since the 1950s. In its most forceful statement yet, the IPCC stated that human activity was responsible for more than half of the rise in global temperatures between 1951 and 2010.

This is a major improvement over the IPCC’s 2007 report, which stated that global warming was “highly likely” caused by humans. The scientific report emphasises the importance of taking quick and robust steps to cut carbon emissions. It argues that if temperature rise is limited to the 2 degree guardrail set by scientists to limit the negative effects of climate change, the maximum permitted carbon emissions would be 880 gigatons.

According to the research, 531 gigatonnes of carbon have already been emitted from the total allowed limit by 2011. Human actions, particularly greenhouse gas emissions, are most likely to blame for the observed warming since the mid-twentieth century. Knowing that human activities are the primary cause of global warming allows us to better understand how and why our climate is changing, and it clearly defines the problem as one that we can solve. The heat-trapping gases already existing in the atmosphere will not allow us to escape some degree of warming. Some gases, such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, will persist for centuries. We have a narrow window to avert the greatest climate change damages and build a better society if we take bold efforts to cut future emissions and adapt to those climate impacts we cannot avoid.

The IPCC scientists predict that the 2°C global warming target will be exceeded in the twenty-first century. The 2015 Paris Agreement goals will be “beyond reach” unless substantial and deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the next decades. The evaluation is based on more accurate historical data and advances in scientific knowledge of the climate system’s response to human-caused emissions.