March 2023 was the 529th consecutive month of above-normal planetary temperatures, using the 2oth century average as a baseline (see story here).
You can see that global warming is happening; ice is melting all over the world: Mountain glaciers, Arctic Ocean ice cover, the Greenland ice cap, Antarctic ice, sea ice.
This isn’t a temporary weather phenomenon. You can argue the earth’s long-term atmospheric temperature has always been cyclical, which is true, but warming now is happening much faster than in any previous cycle.
We know burning fossil fuels puts carbon dioxide in the air, and know CO2 is a “greenhouse gas” that traps heat. We know methane is an especially potent greenhouse gas, and gas and oil production, agriculture and livestock raising, and landfills add to methane emissions from natural sources (e.g., wetlands). Vast quantities of methane are trapped in frozen Arctic tundra, and if the tundra thaws, that methane will be released into the atmosphere, dramatically accelerating global warming.
Thousands of scientists working in various disciplines have confirmed that global warming is happening now. Computer modeling confirms that global warming contributes to the frequency and severity of storms (hurricanes and tornados) and flooding events. These people aren’t liars, and don’t do sloppy work, nor are they promoting a political agenda. They’re doing reputable science.
Global warming is real no matter what you believe. There are economic and political incentives for not believing it, and people who refuse to face reality. Years ago, former vice president Al Gore accurately labeled global warming an “inconvenient truth,” and they responded by attacking him personally. They criticized his own large carbon footprint (his big house, his private plane travel; Gore comes from a wealthy family and has such luxuries). But whether Gore is a hypocrite makes no difference as to whether global warming is happening.
It’s happening, and this isn’t a problem we can dump on future generations, in order to put off implementing the inconvenient solutions. It’s happening to us, and the generations alive now.
We can argue about what to do. Doing nothing, continuing on our merry way, is certainly an option. Living with the consequences is not; you can’t get out of those.