What is it about?
This study is from 1996, when it was still ‘early days’ in terms of people taking climate change seriously. Scientists were beginning to make predictions about how the climate would develop over the next few decades. But no one was sure whether climate change was following natural patterns, or whether human activity was making it worse. The scientists on this project worked out how to make their predictions cope with ‘normal’ amounts of temperature change. This made it easier to see ‘abnormal’ changes from the preceding 30 years. When they tried to predict temperatures, the new technique proved to be accurate. They could see trends, and they could see that human activity had contributed to global warming.
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Why is it important?
This project turned out to be a really important foundation for future research. It provided clear proof that human activity is a major cause of global warming and climate change. It also showed that we could not carry on as usual – we were heading towards climate disaster. KEY TAKEAWAY: It is more than 25 years since scientists were able to show that human activity is a cause of climate change.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Detecting Greenhouse-Gas-Induced Climate Change with an Optimal Fingerprint Method, Journal of Climate, October 1996, American Meteorological Society,
DOI: 10.1175/1520-0442(1996)0092.0.co;2.
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Further evidence that human activity is responsible for climate change
This important study from the early 2000s provided further evidence that human activity was a major cause of global warming, and that natural factors alone could not have caused the level of global warming that occurred during the 20th century.
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To persuade people to change their diet, we need to be able to explain how their current diet is affecting the environment. We need to be able to do this in a way people understand.
Further evidence that human activity is responsible for climate change
This important study from the early 2000s provided further evidence that human activity was a major cause of global warming, and that natural factors alone could not have caused the level of global warming that occurred during the 20th century.
Do scientists agree that human activity is causing global warming? Yes.
Don’t believe everything you hear, and do think about the motives of the people you hear it from. The evidence shows that scientists overwhelmingly agree that human activities are causing global warming.
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