ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Environment → Climate

7 Charts that make it clear the planet is warming fast

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei
October 19, 2012
in Climate, Environment, World Problems
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

We are living in a period with a significant trend of global warming – not natural at all, despite what many people would have you believe. Global warming and cooling are indeed natural phenomena, but when they happen either in geologic time (by far the most common), or due to some catastrophic event (say a volcano spewing ash into the atmosphere, blocking sunrays). The evidence is numerous, and easy to spot, but alas, denial seems to be sprouting eternally. Just take a look.

Source: Skepticalscience.com. This is how skeptics see climate change.

An approximately one degree growth in 40 years – that’s absolutely huge! Don’t be tricked by this apparently small difference – the results are indeed huge. It’s this extra degree which causes droughts, ice melt, hotter oceans – and this is no coincidence. It’s not that it just happened to be hotter this time of the century, the trend is clear, as you can see from the chart below, illustrating the hotter years since 1850. As you can see, hotter and cooler years mingled outside their periods, but the general trend can be seen from the Moon: we are living in the hottest decade since mankind imposed itself as the dominant species. The decade before had been the warmest, and even the decade before that took this prize, but never before has this been so obvious as nowadays.

Graph via the UK Met Office; ranked years in order of global temperature.

Still not buying it? Maybe this is more clear.

A somewhat similar chart, again, presented by the Met Office.

If you’re still not convinced, here’s what you should probably know. The Koch brothers, who own Koch Industries make billions from manufacturing, distributing and refining petroleum and other related products. They, along with Exxon Mobil, the largest private-held oil company, spend millions of dollars each year to fund studies that show how we are not passing through a period of global warming, or if we are, that has absolutely nothing to do with us – 9 out of 10 climate deniers can be linked with Exxon Mobil. This summer, Koch Ind. funded a study which backfired: the study clearly showed the earth is heating, and most, if not all the damage was caused by us humans.

Source: The Koch funded study. “The decadal land-surface average temperature using a 10-year moving average of surface temperatures over land. Anomalies are relative to the January 1950 – December 1979 mean. The grey band indicates 95% statistical and spatial uncertainty interval.”

But this is just the land mass! If you actually think land has the biggest problems… then you are in for a big surprise! Here’s how much the oceans are affected:

Data analyzed from 1993 to 2003. Source: IPCC AR4 5.2.2.3.

If you just take a quick look at the studies conducted on oceanic temperatures, you’ll see that remarkably, all of them have the same conclusions: oceans are heating up massively.

“Total Earth Heat Content [anomaly] from 1950 (Murphy et al. 2009). Ocean data taken from Domingues et al. 2008.”
But it’s not all about the landmass and the oceans; what’s happening in the Arctic areas? I mean, it’s only 0.8% of the total warming, how bad can it be? Oh, it’s bad.

RelatedPosts

Almost $2.6 trillion divested from fossil fuel since the movement began
As sea level rises in Europe, setting up defenses would save money in the long-run
Study finds global effect of temperature on productivity
Bill Nye, Science Guy: climate change will consume us like WWII did our parents
Image via Arctic Sea Ice Blog.

There is not part of the Earth left untouched – nothing! We have to stop thinking about our planet in terms of countries and continents; everything is connected, everything everyone does everywhere actually affects everyone everywhere. So the first step towards undoing as much as the damage as possible is acceptance – we have to accept we are responsible for this – it’s a done deal. Nothing can be changed about the past, but we can change the future. If we continue in these lines, the extent of the harm will be too much to undo, we will suffer. The planet will be just fine but we, humans, won’t – and that’s why we have to change our ways and move on towards a sustainable future.

Tags: climate changeglobal warming

ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

Related Posts

Climate

Climate Change Triggered European Revolutions That Changed the Course of History

byMihai Andrei
2 weeks ago
yellowed grass landscape in london with cityscape in the background
Climate

Heatwaves Don’t Just kill People. They Also Make Us Older

byMihai Andrei
3 weeks ago
Climate

White House Wants to Destroy NASA Satellites Tracking Climate Change and Plant Health

byMihai Andrei
1 month ago
Climate

This Is the Oldest Ice on the Planet and It’s About to Be Slowly Melted to Unlock 1.5 Million Years of Climate History

byTibi Puiu
2 months ago

Recent news

How Bees Use the Sun for Navigation Even on Cloudy Days

September 12, 2025

Scientists Quietly Developed a 6G Chip Capable of 100 Gbps Speeds

September 12, 2025

When Ice Gets Bent, It Sparks: A Surprising Source of Electricity in Nature’s Coldest Corners

September 12, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.