Is Climate Change Real Factually Co

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 6, 2025, 8:18 PM

There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause. Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 800,000 years, there have been eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods, with the end of the last ice age about 11,700 years ago marking the beginning of the... Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives. The current warming trend is different because it is clearly the result of human activities since the mid-1800s, and is proceeding at a rate not seen over many recent millennia.1 It is undeniable that...

This extra energy has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land, and widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred. Earth-orbiting satellites and new technologies have helped scientists see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate all over the world. These data, collected over many years, reveal the signs and patterns of a changing climate. Scientists demonstrated the heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases in the mid-19th century.2 Many of the science instruments NASA uses to study our climate focus on how these gases affect the movement... From the measured impacts of increases in these gases, there is no question that increased greenhouse gas levels warm Earth in response. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

By definition, climate change is the periodic modification of Earth’s climate due to changes in the atmosphere and interactions between the atmosphere and other geologic, chemical, biological, and geographic factors within the Earth system. All living things respond to climate and changes in the climate, even if these changes are subtle and temporary. Some of the most noticeable examples include the shedding of leaves by flowering plants when water availability is low and shelter-seeking behaviors and dormancy in animals in response to colder or drier conditions. It seems that life on Earth is adapted to tolerating a changing climate to some degree, and this is evidence that climate changes, but our own experience of climate throughout our lifetimes, along with... From a certain perspective, daily weather could be considered a type of climate change. Temperatures move up and down during the course of the day; winds change speed and direction; and rain and snow pass through different areas over the course of a day.

Although we can sense each one of these phenomena, such moment-to-moment changes are usually set apart from the climate discussion. Weather is simply the set of atmospheric conditions at one location at one limited period of time. Climate, however, involves the average condition of the atmosphere over a long period of time (such as across a few decades or more) at a given location. Every place on Earth experiences seasonal variation in climate (though the shift can be slight in some tropical regions), and this variation is caused by seasonal changes in the amount of sunlight (solar radiation)... Year-to-year climate changes also occur; they include droughts, floods, and other events caused by a complex array of factors and Earth system interactions—including atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns (such as El Niño, La Niña,... Climate variations also take place at timescales lasting decades, with clusters of wet, dry, cool, or warm conditions that span several years in a row for given locations.

At timescales of thousands of years beyond human lifetimes, climate responds to the precession (slow rotation or “wobble”) of Earth’s axis, the planet’s tilt (obliquity), and the changes to the elliptical shape (eccentricity) of... These phenomena interact with one another to determine the amount of sunlight (and thus solar heating) different parts of Earth’s surface receive during different seasons of the year. We must also consider that the amount of radiant energy Earth receives from the Sun is slowly increasing, which adds more and more energy to the mix over time. Is climate change real? The natural phenomena described above demonstrate that it is, but this is not the whole story. Human activities also affect climate, and a consensus of scientists are sure that the impact of these activities is playing an ever-greater role in determining what form Earth’s climate takes.

It starts with a whisper—rising seas nibbling away at coastlines, warmer winters replacing the cold snaps of old, forests catching fire in places that once stood serene and damp. Somewhere, a polar bear drifts on a dwindling ice floe. Elsewhere, a farmer stares at the cracked, parched earth that once yielded life. And everywhere, people are asking: Is this real? Is it natural? Is it too late?

Global warming. For decades, those two words have hovered in the background of public discourse, growing louder with each passing year. Yet for every scientist shouting the alarm, there’s a social media post casting doubt. Climate change is real, they say. No, it’s a hoax. It’s human-caused.

No, it’s natural. The confusion is not surprising. When fear, politics, and profit collide, the truth often gets buried. But today, we dig it out. Not with shouting, but with clarity. Not with fear, but with facts.

This is a journey through science and storytelling, separating myth from reality, to help you understand what global warming really is—and why the truth matters now more than ever. The story of global warming is ancient, stretching back far before the Industrial Revolution. Our planet’s climate has never been static. It has swung from ice ages to tropical epochs over millions of years, driven by natural factors like volcanic activity, solar radiation, and changes in Earth’s orbit. But something different began in the late 18th century. Humanity discovered coal, then oil, then gas.

We built engines, powered factories, lit up cities, and transformed the world. And in doing so, we began to alter the chemistry of our atmosphere in ways nature never had. World Environment Day encourages collective action to tackle the challenges that are facing the planet - with the focus in 2025 on plastic pollution. Another of those big challenges is climate change, which you have probably read about in stories ranging from reports of extreme weather to news about sea temperatures heating up. But as well as hearing the facts on this issue, you may have also come across some fake news about the topic. In fact, some people even call climate change itself ‘fake news’, even when it’s been proven to be real.

Why does this happen? Watch this TikTok from the BBC Verify team, who explain why climate change is real and define what global warming is. Is climate change real? Maybe you think climate change is a hoax. But the science couldn't be clearer. Global warming is happening and the way we live is making things worse.

Our website uses cookies to understand content and feature usage to drive site improvements over time. To learn more, review our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. How do we know climate change is happening? It’s a simple question, but there are a lot of conflicting viewpoints and people out there trying to convince you one way or the other. Some, such as people in the fossil fuel industry, might want to convince you that climate change isn’t real, or that human activity isn’t what’s causing it. Here’s the truth: The vast majority of scientists claim that climate change is happening, and that humans are causing it.

Scientists have come to this conclusion by examining the huge amount of climate data we now have access to. This data suggests that human emissions of greenhouse gases—such as carbon dioxide (CO2)—are causing global temperatures to rise more rapidly than at any point in the last century. We also have overwhelming evidence that the oceans are getting warmer and more acidic, ice sheets and glaciers are shrinking, sea levels are rising, and that extreme weather events are increasing in frequency as... Humans have only had the tools to measure CO2 levels for the last hundred years or less, but thanks to technologies that let us analyze ice cores, ocean sediment, tree rings, and more, scientists... This data tells us that our current rate of warming is not part of a natural cycle. The climate is changing rapidly and in ways unlike anything that’s happened in hundreds of thousands of years.

Climate change is happening, and it’s driven by human activity. How can we say this with such certainty? Let’s explore the connections between data on rising temperatures and data on atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Data reminder: No matter how official a chart might look, and no matter how carefully the data was collected, data simply can’t tell the whole story. The data can change, or be represented differently, or we can learn a new and more effective way to capture certain data. This is not to say that you shouldn’t trust data—it’s an extremely important piece to understanding climate change.

But data can quickly become outdated. We encourage you to seek additional, well-researched sources of data, and to let us know if you think something is out of date!

Is Climate Change Real Factually Co

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