Millions of people are now directly affected by the consequences of climate change. This summer’s blistering heat waves have broken temperature records all around the world, frying crops, cutting out electricity, sparking wildfires, collapsing roads and runways, and possibly killing thousands in Europe alone.
Many people are questioning if climate change is happening faster than scientists predicted, since it has gone from an abstract danger to an era of falling temperature records, megadroughts, and widespread fires.
Yes. As study after study after study has clearly shown., global warming has set a higher baseline for summer temperatures, which greatly enhances the probability of more frequent, more intense, and longer-lasting heat waves.
Certain real-world phenomena, such as the melting of Arctic sea ice, the amount of land burned by wildfires, and the rapid increase in extreme temperature events in Europe in recent decades have occurred quicker than projected by climate change models, scientists say.
For decades, scientists have been warning in every manner possible that climate change will make the globe warmer, stranger, more difficult to forecast, and in many ways more deadly for humans, animals, and ecosystems. And they’ve been open about the limitations of their knowledge.
The main charge they’ve faced until recently (and continue to face in many areas) is that they are doomsday prophets exaggerating the threat for research money or political agendas.
The issue has not been that the scientists were incorrect. Despite obvious warnings commensurate with existing facts, scientists devoted to enlightening the public have struggled to have their voices heard in an environment rife with misleading accusations of alarmism and political intent.
Reference- World Weather Attribution, Twitter, Axios Story, Technology Review, National Geographic