Thousands of studies conducted by researchers around the world have documented increases in temperature at Earth’s surface, as well as in the atmosphere and oceans. Many other aspects of the global climate are changing as well. High-temperature extremes and heavy precipitation events are increasing, glaciers and snow cover are shrinking, and sea ice is retreating. Flooding is becoming more frequent along the U.S. coastline. 

Growing seasons are longer, and large wildfires occur more frequently. Many species are moving to new locations, and changes in the seasonal timing of important biological events are occurring in response to climate change. These trends are all consistent with a warming world and are expected to continue, according to the New Republic.

President Trump, among other politicians, would have people believe that global warming is a Chinese hoax, a scheme, or flat out does not exist. Climate change and global warming are not “beliefs” they are scientific facts. Republicans and deniers alike want to make the debate about ideologies, rather than scientific observations. 

Many lines of evidence demonstrate that human activities, especially deforestation, land-use changes and heat-trapping greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion emissions are primarily responsible for the climate changes observed in the industrial era, which has increased over the last six decades, according to an article from CNN. 

 The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the largest contributor to human-caused warming, has increased by about 40% over the industrial era. This change has intensified the natural greenhouse effect, driving an increase in global surface temperatures and other widespread changes in Earth’s climate that are unprecedented in the history of modern civilization, according to the CNN article. 

Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities will continue to affect Earth’s climate for decades and even centuries. Humans are adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere at a rate far greater than it is removed by natural processes, creating a long-lived reservoir of the gas in the atmosphere and oceans that is driving the climate to a warmer and warmer state, according to “Climate Change: How do we know?” from NASA.

Cities are sinking. Within the next couple centuries, whole coastlines could be seen as modern-day Atlantis’. Venice’s water is rising at an alarming rate, islands in the Pacific and Atlantic are slowly rising, and coasts of major countries are sinking. 

Global warming, climate change, “warmageddon,” or whatever people call it is real and the world is reaping the consequences. Climate change is not a battle of ideologies or beliefs, but a battle between scientific fact and ignorance. If politicians and civilians accepted the fact that global warming exists, maybe humanity will have enough time to lessen the effects.