Matthew Nisbet (@MCNisbet) is professor of communication, public policy, and urban affairs at Northeastern University and a CSI Scientific Consultant. He is editor of the journal Environmental Communication and editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication.
Scientists expect this year globally to be the fourth-hottest on record, with the only warmer being the three previous ones. 2001, we have lived on a planet that has experienced seventeen of the eighteen hottest years ever observed.
The alarming temperature records set over the past two decades are consistent with a century-long pattern, rigorously confirmed by multiple lines of scientific evidence: the burning of fossil fuels has driven a rise in heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, which has already caused nearly a 1 Celsius (C) degree rise in global temperatures.