• Question: Is global warming real?

    Asked by NIP Xist to Cristiane, Nicki, Nikolai, Richard, Samuel on 10 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Samuel Ellis

      Samuel Ellis answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      In a word, yes.

      There is a very large amount of evidence that ‘global warming’ is indeed real, although a better name is Climate Change. This is because the process is affecting the world in many ways, not just warming places up.

      Some of the many changes scientist have collected lots of evidence of include:
      -Rising sea levels
      -Global temperature changes
      -Shrinking ice sheets and glaciers
      -More frequent extreme weather, such as hurricanes.

      If you want more information, check out what NASA say about it all (they are pretty smart about most things! 🙂 )
      http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

    • Photo: Nikolai Adamski

      Nikolai Adamski answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      Yep.
      Climate change is happening as we speak. At the moment the change in temperature is below the levels that scientists were expecting, but many other phenomena are clearly on the rise. As Sam mentions, extreme weather events like hurricanes and storms become more frequent. Ice at the pole caps is melting and Greenland is actually starting to become more green as there are less ice sheets covering it.
      NASA is a good source for information and pictures. Follow Sam’s link.

    • Photo: Nicki Whitehouse

      Nicki Whitehouse answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      Very much so, I’m afraid. The evidence is very convincing. If you want to read about the science behind this, read the IPCC report!

      http://www.ipcc.ch

      This provides the state of the art understanding of what is happening. Its clear that our climate is changing and will become far more variable and unpredictable. This means that farmers will have greater issues getting water to their crops at the right time or ensuring germination happens at the right point. This is already causing major issues around crops in the US for instance. Other places may become more productive, however, but its the unpredictability of what is happening which is worrying many.

      I get all my first year geography students to read the IPCC report, its sobering. I’m afraid that its people of your generation and that of my little’s boy who will need to really deal with this problem…. but make your politicians answerable too!

    • Photo: Richard Simons

      Richard Simons answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      As all the others have said, it’s definitely real, and it will cause problems if we don’t work to fix it ASAP.

      It’s a real headache for scientists to hear questions and debates over things like this, because we can see the evidence, trust the researchers and know what’s happening, but a lot of the time we have to sit around and watch because we can’t do anything about it! The best we can do is try and change people’s minds and convince them of how dangerous a position we’re all in

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