One of the biggest problems faced by our environment is climate change, and there are various pieces of evidence that show this.
- The average surface temperature of the earth has increased by around 0.9 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century, mainly due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, in turn due to human activity. Most of this increase has happened in the past 35 years.
- Ocean temperatures have also risen, with the top 700 metres of water warming by over 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.
- Global sea levels have increased by about 8 inches in the last century.
- Ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic are shrinking, with the rate of ice mass loss in Antarctica tripling in the last 10 years.
- Glaciers are retreating across the planet, in places such as the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.
- Snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past 50 years.
- Arctic Sea ice is decreasing rapidly, both in terms of extent and thickness.
- Extreme events are on the rise – for instance, the number of record high temperatures have been increasing in the US, and other countries around the world.
- The acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by around 30% since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Sources: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
https://www.wwf.org.uk/effectsofclimatechange
