Climate Change 1880 to 2022

 Climate Change 1880 to 2022

The Earth's climate is in flux, and projections suggest this will persist throughout this century and beyond. The extent of change hinges largely on global greenhouse gas emissions and the remaining uncertainty regarding how sensitive the Earth's climate is to these emissions. If significant reductions in greenhouse gases occur, we could limit the rise in global average temperature to 2°C or less. However, without substantial emissions cuts, temperatures could surge by 5°C or more by the century's end compared to preindustrial levels.

Climate change is occurring at an accelerated pace compared to natural fluctuations in Earth's climate history. Various indicators such as global temperature, sea level rise, ocean heat content, ice melt, arctic sea ice, permafrost thaw depth, and other climate metrics consistently point to a warming trend. These observations are solid and have been verified by numerous independent research teams worldwide. Since the 1880s, global average temperature has risen by about 1°C, as depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Global Average Temperature Anomalies, a departure from 1881-1910.