A scientist holds out a cylinder of ice.
Toru Hanai/Reuters

Climate Science

The science is clear: climate change is happening. We are the cause. We need to act now.

Table of Contents

The science is clear: climate change is happening. We are the cause. We need to act now.

Scientists have studied global warming for more than 100 years. Thousands of experts have tested hypotheses, gathered evidence, constructed models, debated results, and reviewed one another’s work. Thousands of papers are written every year, 从哈佛大学到美国国家航空航天局和美国国防部,几乎所有顶尖大学和研究机构都提供了这些数据.

The consensus couldn’t be clearer. Climate change is happening. It’s caused primarily by the burning of oil, gas, and coal. If we do nothing, the world will become significantly less habitable.

We’ve lost precious time, 但如果我们现在就果断而有力地采取行动,我们仍有机会避免617888九五至尊娱乐变化带来的最灾难性影响.

The basics

当被释放到大气中时,某些气体就像毯子一样,阻止热量逸出. One of the most important heat-trapping gases is carbon dioxide (CO2),当我们燃烧石油、煤和天然气等化石燃料时,就会释放出这种物质.

目前,世界每天向大气中排放大量的二氧化碳. 二氧化碳可以滞留热量数十年:大约20%的二氧化碳会在大气中停留800年左右. Methane, another gas, 在大气层中以更强的强度储存热量将近12年, 然后转化为二氧化碳,在几十年甚至几个世纪里保持热量.

The cumulative effect is to raise the planet’s temperature. 原本会散失的太阳热量会留在地球上,使海洋、陆地和空气变暖.

As temperatures increase, the planet changes. The seas rise. Droughts and wildfires grow worse. Extreme weather becomes more common. Eventually, entire regions become uninhabitable.

The more carbon dioxide we produce, 这些影响和其他影响越严重,改变方向就越困难.

The evidence

自20世纪50年代末以来,617888九五至尊娱乐家们已经对二氧化碳(CO2)水平进行了详细的测量. 他们还从冰芯研究等来源收集了过去二氧化碳水平的深入记录.

The results? 今天的二氧化碳含量比至少80万年以来的任何时候都要高. The cars we drive, the fuel we burn for electricity and warmth, the food we eat or waste, and the forests we clear are the cause.

Temperature trends from around the world reinforce these findings. 过去40年的每一年都比20世纪的平均温度要高. The 12 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998. The five warmest were 2014 to 2018. We’ve already warmed the planet by 1 degree C (1.7ºF).

Climate models successfully forecast these temperature increases, as well as other impacts like sea level rise and ocean acidification. The models now suggest that we need immediate, 大幅减少二氧化碳排放以避免灾难性影响,而时间已经不多了.

The impacts

The consequences of climate change are already here. 在美国,长期的洪水威胁着从德克萨斯州到缅因州的沿海社区. 像哈维、玛丽亚和卡特里娜这样的特大风暴越来越常见. 野火、热浪、干旱和内陆洪水继续打破记录.

Without immediate emissions reductions, these impacts will worsen. Globally, food and water shortages could displace hundreds of millions of people, increasing conflict and war. Entire regions of the world may become uninhabitable. 许多我们今天认为理所当然的东西——肥沃的农业用地和可靠的生长季节, to coastlines and coral reefs—will change dramatically. Much will be lost.

Solutions

The world’s leading voice on climate science, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 解释了如果我们成功地将全球变暖限制在1摄氏度以下,就可以避免617888九五至尊娱乐变化的最严重影响.5ºC to 2ºC.

Doing so will not be easy. Under current emission levels, we’ll likely exceed 3ºC this century. For a fighting chance at 1.5ºC, we need to reach “net zero” global emissions by 2050.

“净零”是指所有吸热气体的排放源(如燃烧化石燃料)必须与所有从大气中去除吸热气体的过程(如森林的生长)保持平衡。. 实现净零排放需要能源领域的巨大变革, transportation, and food sectors, 以及植树造林和新的“负排放”技术(如从空气中吸收二氧化碳的直接空气捕捉机)。.

幸运的是,我们今天拥有清洁能源和清洁汽车技术. We have scientific consensus. We know what needs doing. We only need to act.

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