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Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment.

Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change,
are now occurring

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– climate.nasa.gov –

The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades depends primarily on:

– The amount of heat-trapping gases emitted globally, and
– How sensitive the Earth’s climate is to those emissions

Human-induced warming is superimposed on a naturally varying climate.

Hence, the temperature rise has not been, and will not be,
uniform or smooth across the world or over time.

Droughts and heat waves everywhere are projected to become more intense,
and cold waves less intense everywhere.

Summer temperatures are projected to continue rising,
and a reduction of soil moisture, which exacerbates heat waves.

The intensity, frequency and duration of  hurricanes,
have all increased since the early 1980s.

Hurricane-associated storm intensity and rainfall rates are projected to
increase as the climate continues to warm.

Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880.
It is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100.

In the next several decades, storm surges and high tides could combine with sea level rise
and land subsidence to further increase flooding.

The Arctic Ocean is expected to become essentially ice free in summer before mid-century

Taken as a whole, the range of published evidence indicates that
the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time.

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– Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change –