10 Indicators of a Human Footprint on Climate Change

Thanks to John Cook who runs the excellent website, Skeptical Science, for this graphic that summarizes the impact we humans are having on our climate. As Cook says,

“Science isn’t a house of cards, ready to topple if you remove one line of evidence. Instead, it’s like a jigsaw puzzle. As the body of evidence builds, we get a clearer picture of what’s driving our climate. We now have many lines of evidence all pointing to a single, consistent answer – the main driver of global warming is rising carbon dioxide levels from our fossil fuel burning.“

 

Some definitions, for those of us out there who don’t talk climate often:

thermosphere: The outermost shell of the atmosphere, between the mesosphere and outer space, where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.

stratosphere: The region of the atmosphere above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. (source: answers.com)

tropopause: The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere varying in altitude from approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) at the poles to approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) at the equator.

(source: answers.com)

More links:

10 Indicators of a Human Fingerprint on Climate Change. Skeptical Science.com

Empirically observed fingerprints of Anthropogenic Global Warming