We were warned.

On June 23, 1988, a sultry day in Washington, James Hansen told Congress and the world that global warming wasn91裸聊视频檛 approaching 91裸聊视频� it had already arrived. The testimony of the top NASA scientist, said Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley, was 91裸聊视频渢he opening salvo of the age of climate change.91裸聊视频�

Thirty years later, it91裸聊视频檚 clear that Hansen and other doomsayers were right. But the change has been so sweeping that it is easy to lose sight of effects large and small 91裸聊视频� some obvious, others less conspicuous.

Earth is noticeably hotter, the weather stormier and more extreme. Polar regions have lost billions of tons of ice; sea levels have been raised by trillions of gallons of water. Far more wildfires rage.

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Over 30 years 91裸聊视频� the time period climate scientists often use in their studies in order to minimize natural weather variations 91裸聊视频� the world91裸聊视频檚 annual temperature has warmed nearly 1 degree (0.54 degrees Celsius), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And the temperature in the United States has gone up even more 91裸聊视频� nearly 1.6 degrees.

91裸聊视频淭he biggest change over the last 30 years, which is most of my life, is that we91裸聊视频檙e no longer thinking just about the future,91裸聊视频� said Kathie Dello, a climate scientist at Oregon State University in Corvallis. 91裸聊视频淐limate change is here, it91裸聊视频檚 now and it91裸聊视频檚 hitting us hard from all sides.91裸聊视频�

Warming hasn91裸聊视频檛 been just global, it91裸聊视频檚 been all too local. According to an Associated Press statistical analysis of 30 years of weather, ice, fire, ocean, biological and other data, every single one of the 344 climate divisions in the Lower 48 states 91裸聊视频� NOAA groupings of counties with similar weather 91裸聊视频� has warmed significantly, as has each of 188 cities examined.

The effects have been felt in cities from Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the yearly average temperature rose 2.9 degrees in the past 30 years, to Yakima, Washington, where the thermometer jumped a tad more. In the middle, Des Moines, Iowa, warmed by 3.3 degrees since 1988.

South central Colorado, the climate division just outside Salida, has warmed 2.3 degrees on average since 1988, among the warmest divisions in the contiguous United States.

When she was a little girl 30 years ago, winery marketing chief Jessica Shook used to cross country ski from her Salida doorstep in winter. It was that cold and there was that much snow. Now, she has to drive about 50 miles for snow that91裸聊视频檚 not on mountain tops, she said.

91裸聊视频淭-shirt weather in January, that never used to happen when I was a child,91裸聊视频� Shook said. When Buel Mattix bought his heating and cooling system company 15 years ago in Salida, he had maybe four air conditioning jobs a year. Now he91裸聊视频檚 got a waiting list of 10 to 15 air conditioning jobs long and may not get to all of them.

And then there91裸聊视频檚 the effect on wildfires. Veteran Salida firefighter Mike Sugaski used to think a fire of 10,000 acres was big. Now he fights fires 10 times as large.

91裸聊视频淵ou kind of keep saying 91裸聊视频楬ow can they get much worse?91裸聊视频� But they do,91裸聊视频� said Sugaski, who was riding his mountain bike on what usually are ski trails in January this year.

In fact, wildfires in the United States now consume more than twice the acreage they did 30 years ago.

The statistics tracking climate change since 1988 are almost numbing. North America and Europe have warmed 1.89 degrees 91裸聊视频� more than any other continent. The Northern Hemisphere has warmed more than the Southern, the land faster than the ocean. Across the United States, temperature increases were most evident at night and in summer and fall. Heat rose at a higher rate in the North than the South.

Since 1988, daily heat records have been broken more than 2.3 million times at weather stations across the nation, half a million times more than cold records were broken.

Doreen Pollack fled Chicago cold for Phoenix more than two decades ago, but in the past 30 years night time summer heat has increased almost 3.3 degrees there. She said when the power goes out, it gets unbearable, adding: 91裸聊视频淏e careful what you ask for.91裸聊视频�

ocean

The AP interviewed more than 50 scientists who confirmed the depth and spread of warming.

Clara Deser, climate analysis chief at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said that when dealing with 30-year time periods in smaller regions than continents or the globe as a whole, it would be unwise to say all the warming is man-made. Her studies show that in some places in North American local 91裸聊视频� though not most 91裸聊视频� natural weather variability could account for as much as half of warming.

But when you look at the globe as a whole, especially since 1970, nearly all the warming is man-made, said Zeke Hausfather of the independent science group Berkeley Earth. Without extra carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, he said, the Earth would be slightly cooling from a weakening sun. Numerous scientific studies and government reports calculate that greenhouse gases in the big picture account for more than 90 per cent of post-industrial Earth91裸聊视频檚 warming.

91裸聊视频淚t would take centuries to a millennium to accomplish that kind of change with natural causes. This, in that context, is a dizzying pace,91裸聊视频� said Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

Others cautioned that what might seem to be small increases in temperature should not be taken lightly.

91裸聊视频淥ne or two degrees may not sound like much, but raising your thermostat by just that amount will make a noticeable effect on your comfort,91裸聊视频� said Deke Arndt, NOAA91裸聊视频檚 climate monitoring chief in Asheville, North Carolina, which has warmed nearly 1.8 degrees in 30 years.

Arndt said average temperatures don91裸聊视频檛 tell the entire story: 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 the extremes that these changes bring.91裸聊视频�

The nation91裸聊视频檚 extreme weather 91裸聊视频� flood-inducing downpours, extended droughts, heat waves and bitter cold and snow 91裸聊视频� has doubled in 30 years, according to a federal index.

The Northeast91裸聊视频檚 extreme rainfall has more than doubled. Brockton, Massachusetts, had only one day with at least four inches of rain from 1957 to 1988, but a dozen of them in the 30 years since, according to NOAA records. Ellicott City, Maryland, just had its second thousand-year flood in little less than two years.

And the summer91裸聊视频檚 named Atlantic storms? On average, the first one now forms nearly a month earlier than it did in 1988, according to University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy.

The 14 costliest hurricanes in American history, adjusted for inflation, have hit since 1988, reflecting both growing coastal development and a span that included the most intense Atlantic storms on record.

91裸聊视频淭he collective damage done by Atlantic hurricanes in 2017 was well more than half of the entire budget of our Department of Defence,91裸聊视频� said MIT91裸聊视频檚 Kerry Emanuel.

Climate scientists point to the Arctic as the place where climate change is most noticeable with dramatic sea ice loss, a melting Greenland ice sheet, receding glaciers and thawing permafrost. The Arctic has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the world.

Alaska has warmed 2.4 degrees annually since 1988 and 5.4 degrees in the winter. Since 1988, Utqiagvik (oot-GAR91裸聊视频�-vik), Alaska, formerly known as Barrow, has warmed more than 6 degrees yearly and more than 9 degrees in winter.

91裸聊视频淭he temperature change is noticeable. Our ground is thawing,91裸聊视频� said Mike Aamodt, 73, the city91裸聊视频檚 former acting mayor. He had to move his own cabins at least four times because of coastal erosion and thawing ground due to global warming. 91裸聊视频淲e live the climate change.91裸聊视频�

The amount of Arctic sea ice in September, when it shrinks the most, fell by nearly one third since 1988. It is disappearing 50 years faster than scientists predicted, said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University.

91裸聊视频淭here is a new Arctic now because the Arctic ocean is now navigable91裸聊视频� at times in the summer, said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The vast majority of glaciers around the world have shrunk. A NASA satellite that measures shifts in gravity calculated that Earth91裸聊视频檚 glaciers lost 279 billion tons of ice 91裸聊视频� nearly 67 trillion gallons of water 91裸聊视频� from 2002 to 2017. In 1986, the Begich Boggs visitor centre at Alaska91裸聊视频檚 Chugach National Forest opened to highlight the Portage glacier. But the glacier keeps shrinking.

91裸聊视频淵ou absolutely cannot see it from the visitor centre and you haven91裸聊视频檛 in the last 15 or so years,91裸聊视频� said climatologist Brian Brettschneider of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica have also have shriveled, melting about 455 billion tons of ice into water, according to the NASA satellite. That91裸聊视频檚 enough water to cover the state of Georgia in water nearly 9 feet deep.

And it is enough 91裸聊视频� coupled with all the other melting ice 91裸聊视频� to raise the level of the seas. Overall, NASA satellites have shown three inches of sea level rise (75 millimeters) in just the past 25 years.

With more than 70 per cent of the Earth is covered by oceans, a 3-inch increase means about 6,500 cubic miles (27,150 cubic km) of extra water. That91裸聊视频檚 enough to cover the entire United States with water about 9 feet deep.

It91裸聊视频檚 a fitting metaphor for climate change, say scientists: We91裸聊视频檙e in deep, and getting deeper.

91裸聊视频淭hirty years ago, we may have seen this coming as a train in the distance,91裸聊视频� NOAA91裸聊视频檚 Arndt said. 91裸聊视频淭he train is in our living room now.91裸聊视频�

The Associated Press

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