Despite what the skeptics say, Marion resident Dr. Jennifer Francis says that no one can ignore science – climate change is a reality.

“The extreme weather conditions show how climate change is real,” Francis said. “It used to be a question and it is not a question anymore.”

Francis, a scientist with Rutgers University’s Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, presented her research on the subject to members of the Sippican Woman’s Club on Friday.

Besides strange mild winters and increasingly warmer summers, Francis said that the ocean temperatures in the Northeast are warmer than ever recorded.

The cause being that the Earth’s temperature and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are “out of whack.”

Normally, the temperature changes and the carbon dioxide level responds. However, due to the increasing use of fossil fuels, the carbon dioxide levels are changing first.

The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere permit the heat given off by the sun to reach the Earth, but the gases stop the heat from rising back up.

“The gases admit the heat back on the Earth like a blanket. It traps the heat down to the surface and warms the planet,” Francis said.

The change in the system can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, Francis said. This is when fossil fuels became an increasingly important part of human life.

Out of the past ten years, nine have seen the warmest temperatures on record.

“There is a big lag in the system and it has a long way to go to catch up to where we are,” Francis said.

Francis has spent her career studying the Arctic. She said that due to warmer temperatures in the atmosphere, the ice is melting in the Arctic. Today, the ice is 80 percent smaller than it has ever been.

With the ice melting in the Arctic and in other parts of the globe, Francis said the sea levels are rising at a much faster rate. Since 1900, Francis said the sea levels worldwide have risen one foot as opposed to the average of less than one millimeter per year before this time. By 2100, Francis said that scientists anticipate the sea levels to rise another six feet.

While she said she couldn’t be certain how this will impact the coming winter weather, Francis said she expects to see continuing strange weather conditions.

The biggest hurdle for scientists researching climate change is convincing more skeptical people that it is a problem, Francis said.

“There are some major changes happening. It’s not happening for our grandchildren, it’s happening right now. At some point we are going to have to anticipate some changes because it’s going to affect us for a long time,” Francis said.