An artistic interpretation of the Earth drying up under the impacts of global warming.

(Detlev van Ravenswaay/Getty Images)

At a Glance

A look at climate trends indicates that conditions on Earth have changed dramatically over the past century.The coming century will bring even more changes to our planet, scientists say.

There is a vast amount of empirical evidence that proves that human-causedclimate change is real and affecting our planet at an alarming rate.

While scientists say Earth has experienced cycles of warming and cooling over the ages, the significant warming trend we are now experiencing is nothing like those of the past. The difference, scientists say, is human activity. In fact, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says the probability that humansare the reason for the rapid warming since the mid-19th century is .

From rising sea levels to retreating glaciers to coral bleaching, human-induced global warming is affecting every corner of our planet. Scientists are confident in this statement because of the large amounts of data collectedusing satellites and other technological advances.

Ancient collected fromtree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefsand layers of sedimentary rocks indicate that current warming is occurring about than the averageice-age-recovery warming, notes NASA.

Temperature histories from paleoclimate data (green line) compared to the history based on modern instruments (blue line) suggest that global temperature is warmer now than it has been in the past 1,000 years, and possibly longer.

(NASA)

Here are 10 climate trends that show that the planet is in trouble, thankstohuman activity:

1. Seas Are Rising Faster

The global sea levelrose about 8 inches over the last century, scientists says. The rate at which it increased over that past decade is nearly double that of the last century,according to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the global sea level for the next century is expected to rise at a . Studies show that global sea level will rise by another 1 to 4 feet by 2100, with an uncertainty range of 0.66 to 6.6 feet.

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Past and projected sea level rise from 1800 to 2100. The orange line at right shows the currently projected range of sea level rise of 1 to 4 feet by 2100; the wider range (0.66 feet to 6.6 feet) reflects uncertainty about how glaciers and ice sheets will react to climate change.

(National Climate Assessment)

2. It's Getting Hotter

Thanks to an increase in carbon dioxide, along with other human-made emissions spewed into the atmosphere, Earth's average surface temperature has risen about , according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

"Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 2001," . "Not only was 2016 the warmest year on record, but eight of the 12 months that make up the year — from January through September, with the exception of June — were the warmest on record for those respective months."

Increases in average are expected to be within the range of 0.5°F to 8.6°F by 2100. The average U.S. temperature in 2100is "projected to increase by about 3°F to 12°F, depending on emissions scenario andclimate model," .

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Observed and projected changes in global average temperature under four emissions pathways. The vertical bars at right show likely ranges in temperature by the end of the century, while the lines show projections averaged across a range of climate models. Changes are relative to the 1986-2005 average.

(IPCC)

3. Oceans Are Warming

The world's oceans serve as the planet's buffer for global warming by generated by humans.

According to NASA, the top 2,300 feetof theoceans' surface has warmed 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.

The impact of warming oceans is wide-ranging. From to extreme weather, the impacts of warming oceans will be felt across the globe as the years roll on.

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This graph shows how the average surface temperature of the world’s oceans has changed since 1880. This graph uses the 1971 to 2000 average as a baseline for depicting change. Choosing a different baseline period would not change the shape of the data over time. The shaded band shows the range of uncertainty in the data, based on the number of measurements collected and the precision of the methods used.

(NOAA)

4. Ice Sheets Are Shrinking

According to data from NASA's , the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have shrunk. Greenland lost 36 to 60 cubic milesof ice per year between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost roughly 36 cubic miles of ice between 2002 and 2005.

One study indicates that since 1992. To put the amount of ice lost in perspective, the study shows thatGreenland lost 152 billion tons a year of ice since 1992, West Antarctica lost 65 billion tons a year and the Antarctic Peninsula lost 20 billion tons a year.

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Antarctica's Larsen B Ice Shelf is likely to shatter into hundreds of icebergs before the end of the decade, according to a NASA study.

(Ted Scambos/National Snow and Ice Data Center)

5. Extreme Weather Events Are More Frequent

One outcome of global warming and rising sea surface temperatures is changing patterns of precipitation and storm events.

Since 1950, the number of record high temperature events in the United States has been on the rise, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, .

Scientists predict that by the end of the century, on average, as will the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes.

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Projected changes in global annual mean precipitation for a low emissions scenario (left) and high emissions scenario (right). Blue and green areas are projected to experience increases in precipitation by the end of the century, while yellow and brown areas are projected to experience decreases.

(IPCC)

6. Humidity Is Increasing

According to NOAA, through the amount of water vapor in the air. It's just one more trend that indicates the earth's atmosphere is changing.

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7. Snow Cover Has Been Reduced

According to a 2013 report by the IPCC, the since about 1970, while the permafrost temperatures in Alaska and much of the Arctic have increased over the last century.

Between 1955 and 2016, the depth of snow on the ground, or snowpack, in early spring in the western United States , while the "average portion of North America covered by snow between 1972 and 2015 decreased at a rate of about 3,300 square miles per year," says IPCC.

By 2100, snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is expected to decrease by about15 percent, producing shorter snow seasons and a decreased snowpack in many regions. In northern latitudes, the permafrost is expected to continue to thaw, with.

(PHOTOS:)

This graph shows the average area covered by snow in a given calendar year, based on an analysis of weekly maps. The area is measured in square miles.

(EPA)

8. Glaciers Are Retreating

Because glaciers are so sensitive to temperature fluctuations, , says the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

According to the EPA's climate change indicators, glaciers in the United States and around the world have generally shrunk since the 1960s. The rate at which glaciers are melting has accelerated over the last decade.

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1941-2004 comparison: Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve's White Thunder Ridge as seen on August 13, 1941 (left) and August 31, 2004 (right). Muir Glacier has retreated out of the field of view, Riggs Glacier has thinned and retreated significantly, and dense new vegetation has appeared. Muir Glacier was more than 2,000 feet thick in 1941.

(B.F. Molnia and W.O. Field/USGS)

9. Oceans Are Becoming More Acidic

According to NOAA,the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Acidification of oceans occurs as human-produced carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans. NOAA says that the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about .

"Estimates of future carbon dioxide levels, based on business as usual emission scenarios, indicate that by the end of this century the surface waters of the ocean could be nearly 150 percent more acidic, resulting in a pH that the oceans haven’t experienced for more than 20 million years," .

Acidification of oceans imperils marine wildlife, particularly shellfish, which impacts the entire marine food chain, including humans. The reality of a world without seafood, particularly in areas that rely on the consumption of fish, is difficult to contemplate.

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Freshly harvested oysters from Yaquina Bay, Oregon.

(NOAA)

10. Coral Reefs Are Dying

When in the oceans, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, which causes them to turncompletely white, says NOAA.

The past several years has seen an alarming increase in coral bleaching the world over.In 2005, the United States lost half of its coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year due to a massive bleaching event, NOAA notes.

Earlier this month, scientists declared that the world's largest and most treasured reef in the world — Australia's Great Barrier Reef —is due to sea surface temperature increases.

Sea surface temperature anomaly, Great Barrier Reef.

(NOAA, BoM)

Coral reefs , protecting them from waves, stormsand floods. As they continue to die off, the risk to property and human life from storms will also increase, NOAA notes.

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