Facts About Climate Change

The information below primarily comes from the Environmental Protection Agency's site on Climate Change, the U.S. Geological Survey's web site (specifically from their Volcano Hazards Program), and from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

• Of the last 12 years, 11 rank among the the warmest on record (since 1850). The two warmest were 1998 and 2005 (the worst hurricane year on record, and the year of Hurricane Katrina). The top 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1990 (source).
• There is a high level of confidence that the global average temperature during the last few decades was warmer than any comparable period during the last 400 years (source).
• If greenhouse gases continue to increase, climate models predict that the average temperature at the Earth's surface could increase from 3.2 to 7.2ºF above 1990 levels by the end of this century (source). The average temperature during the last "Little Ice Age" (between 1500 and 1850) was probably about 2° colder than today (source), demonstrating how even very minor changes in temperature can have profound effects.
• Human activities release more than 130 times the amount of CO2 emitted by volcanoes which is the the equivalent of more than 8,000 additional volcanoes on earth (source).
• Global emissions of CO2 are predicted to increase 74% by 2030 (source). By 2100, CO2 concentrations may be as much as 158% higher than current levels (source).
• Present CO2 concentrations are higher than any time in at least the last 650,000 years (source). That means it is not possible for current CO2 levels to be part of the Earth's "natural cycle".
• Methane is more abundant in the Earth’s atmosphere now than at any time in at least the past 650,000 years. Methane concentrations are 148% above pre-industrial levels (source). Methane has about 25 times the warming effect as carbon dioxide (source). Methane is such a potent greenhouse gas that it is considered positive to burn it (generating C02) before releasing it into the atmosphere.
• Average temperatures in the Arctic have increased at almost twice the global rate in the past 100 years (source).
• Sea level has risen worldwide approximately 4.8 - 8.8 inches during the last century (source). Sea level may rise by as much as between 23.6 and 31.6 inches by 2100 (source).
• Since some of the heat associated with human activity is stored in the ocean, and greenhouse gasses take anywhere from decades to centuries to dissipate, even if greenhouse gas emissions were halted immediately, the earth's temperature would continue to rise (source). That means greenhouse gas reductions absolutely must start now.