• Average temperatures have climbed 0.8 degree Celsius around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades. – NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

  • The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average. – multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004.
  • Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana’s Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. National Geographic News
  • Natural levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have varied throughout history between 180 and 300 parts per million (ppm). Today’s CO2 levels hover around 380 ppm, representing a 25% increase over the highest recorded natural levels. In 2012, for the first time, global average carbon dioxide concentrations hit 392 parts per million and exceeded 400 ppm at some observation sites. – Environmental Defense Fund and NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center
  • The first forced relocation due to the effects of climate change occurred in 2007 when 100 residents of Tegua Island in the Pacific Ocean were evacuated due to rising sea levels and subsequent flooding.- Environmental Defense Fund
  • As Arctic ice rapidly disappears, scientists believe the Arctic will experience its first ice-free summer as early as the year 2040. – National Geographic News
  • Cars amount to three-quarters of all transportation emissions. At the current rate, the world will be driven on by more than a billion cars in 2030 and a billion more by 2050. – Walker, Gabrielle and Sir David King. 2008. The Hot Topic: What We Can Do about Global Warming