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1294 | Fertilizer | "Because CO₂ acts as a fertilizer, as much as half of all vegetated land is persistently greener today. | Fertilizer A fertilizer ( American English ) or fertiliser ( British English ; see spelling differences ) is any material of natural or synthetic origin ( other than liming materials ) that is applied to soils or to plant tissues ( usually leaves ) to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants . |
1048 | Global_warming | While transient weather variability is playing a key role here, the widespread record warmth across the U.S. so far this year is part of a long-term trend toward more warm temperature records versus cold ones. | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
311 | Little_Ice_Age | there has been no systematic increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, | Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age ( LIA ) was a period of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period . Although it was not a true ice age , the term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939 . It has been conventionally defined as a period extending from the 16th to the 19th centuries , but some experts prefer an alternative timespan from about 1300 to about 1850 . Climatologists and historians working with local records no longer expect to agree on either the start or end dates of the period , which varied according to local conditions . The NASA Earth Observatory notes three particularly cold intervals : one beginning about 1650 , another about 1770 , and the last in 1850 , all separated by intervals of slight warming . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Third Assessment Report considered the timing and areas affected by the Little Ice Age suggested largely-independent regional climate changes rather than a globally-synchronous increased glaciation . At most , there was modest cooling of the Northern Hemisphere during the period . Several causes have been proposed : cyclical lows in solar radiation , heightened volcanic activity , changes in the ocean circulation , variations in Earth 's orbit and axial tilt ( orbital forcing ) , inherent variability in global climate , and decreases in the human population . |
2312 | Tuvalu | Everybody knows that the Pacific island of Tuvalu is sinking. ... | Tuvalu Tuvalu ( -LSB- tᵿˈvɑːlu -RSB- or -LSB- ˈtuːvəˌluː -RSB- ) , formerly known as the Ellice Islands , is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean , about midway between Hawaii and Australia , lying east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands ( belonging to the Solomons ) , southeast of Nauru , south of Kiribati , west of Tokelau , northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna and north of Fiji . It comprises three reef islands and six true atolls spread out between the latitude of 5 ° to 10 ° south and longitude of 176 ° to 180 ° , west of the International Date Line . Tuvalu has a population of 10,640 ( 2012 census ) . The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 km2 . The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians . The pattern of settlement that is believed to have occurred is that the Polynesians spread out from Samoa and Tonga into the Tuvaluan atolls , with Tuvalu providing a stepping stone to migration into the Polynesian Outlier communities in Melanesia and Micronesia . In 1568 , Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to sail through the archipelago , sighting the island of Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis . In 1819 the island of Funafuti was named Ellice 's Island ; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay . The islands came under Britain 's sphere of influence in the late 19th century , when each of the Ellice Islands was declared a British Protectorate by Captain Gibson of between 9 and 16 October 1892 . The Ellice Islands were administered as British protectorate by a Resident Commissioner from 1892 to 1916 as part of the British Western Pacific Territories ( BWPT ) , and then as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony from 1916 to 1974 . A referendum was held in December 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration . As a consequence of the referendum , the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony ceased to exist on 1 January 1976 and the separate British colonies of Kiribati and Tuvalu came into existence . Tuvalu became fully independent within the Commonwealth on 1 October 1978 . On 5 September 2000 Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations . |
765 | Tropical_rainforest | The broader term covers changes beyond warmer temperatures, such as shifting rainfall patterns." | Tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season -- all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm -- and may also be referred to as lowland equatorial evergreen rainforest . True rainforests are typically found between 10 degrees north and south of the equator ( see map ) ; they are a sub-set of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28 degree latitudes ( in the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn ) . Within the World Wildlife Fund 's biome classification , tropical rainforests are a type of tropical moist broadleaf forest ( or tropical wet forest ) that also includes the more extensive tropical seasonal forests . |
1648 | Sea_level_rise | A variety of different measurements find steadily rising sea levels over the past century. | Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly . Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. . Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century . Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems . |
695 | Carbon_dioxide | Models are too sensitive to increases in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, he said. | Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a colorless gas with a density about 60 % higher than that of air ( 1.225 g/L ) that is odorless at normally encountered concentrations . Carbon dioxide consists of a carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms . It occurs naturally in Earth 's atmosphere as a trace gas at a concentration of about 0.04 percent ( 400 ppm ) by volume . Natural sources include volcanoes , hot springs and geysers , and it is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids . Because carbon dioxide is soluble in water , it occurs naturally in groundwater , rivers and lakes , ice caps , glaciers and seawater . It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas . As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle , atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth 's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena . Plants , algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water , with oxygen produced as a waste product . Carbon dioxide is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration . It is returned to water via the gills of fish and to the air via the lungs of air-breathing land animals , including humans . Carbon dioxide is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of sugars in bread , beer and winemaking . It is produced by combustion of wood and other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal , peat , petroleum and natural gas . It is a versatile industrial material , used , for example , as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers , as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery , as a chemical feedstock and in liquid form as a solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying . It is added to drinking water and carbonated beverages including beer and sparkling wine to add effervescence . The frozen solid form of , known as `` dry ice '' is used as a refrigerant and as an abrasive in dry-ice blasting . Carbon dioxide is the most significant long-lived greenhouse gas in Earth 's atmosphere . Since the Industrial Revolution anthropogenic emissions - primarily from use of fossil fuels and deforestation - have rapidly increased its concentration in the atmosphere , leading to global warming . Carbon dioxide also causes ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid . |
2553 | Emissions_trading | The climate debate is, in reality, about a 1.6 watts per square metre or 0.5 per cent discrepancy in the poorly known planetary energy balance." | Emissions trading Emissions trading or cap and trade is a government-mandated , market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants . In contrast to command-and-control environmental regulations such as best available technology ( BAT ) standards and government subsidies , cap and trade ( CAT ) schemes are a type of flexible environmental regulation that allows organizations to decide how best to meet policy targets . Various countries , states and groups of companies have adopted such trading systems , notably for mitigating climate change . A central authority ( usually a governmental body ) allocates or sells a limited number of permits to discharge specific quantities of a specific pollutant per time period . Polluters are required to hold permits in amount equal to their emissions . Polluters that want to increase their emissions must buy permits from others willing to sell them . Financial derivatives of permits can also be traded on secondary markets . In theory , polluters who can reduce emissions most cheaply will do so , achieving the emission reduction at the lowest cost to society . Cap and trade is meant to provide the private sector with the flexibility required to reduce emissions while stimulating technological innovation and economic growth . There are active trading programs in several air pollutants . For greenhouse gases , which cause climate change , permit units are often called carbon credits . The largest greenhouse gases trading program is the European Union Emission Trading Scheme , which trades primarily in European Union Allowances ( EUAs ) ; the Californian scheme trades in California Carbon Allowances , the New Zealand scheme in New Zealand Units and the Australian scheme in Australian Units . The United States has a national market to reduce acid rain and several regional markets in nitrogen oxides . |
1367 | Supercontinent | But we do have other reliable indicators of temperatures before the late 1800s, and the evidence shows temperatures have been warmer than today for most of the past several thousand years, including warmer-than-present temperatures for most of the human civilization time period | Supercontinent In geology , a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth 's continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass . However , the definition of a supercontinent can be ambiguous . Many earth scientists use the term `` supercontinent '' to mean `` a clustering of nearly all continents '' . This definition leaves room for interpretation when labeling a continental body and is easier to apply to Precambrian times . Using the first definition provided here , Gondwana is not considered a supercontinent , because the landmasses of Baltica , Laurentia and Siberia also existed at the same time but physically separate from each other . The landmass of Pangaea is the collective name describing all of these continental masses when they were most recently in proximity to one another . This would classify Pangaea as a supercontinent . According to the modern definitions , a supercontinent does not exist today . Supercontinents have assembled and dispersed multiple times in the geologic past ( see table ) . The positions of continents have been accurately determined back to the early Jurassic . However , beyond , continental positions are much less certain . |
503 | Early_2014_North_American_cold_wave | "During the sunless winter, a heatwave raised concerns that the polar vortex may be eroding. | Early 2014 North American cold wave The 2014 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event that extended through the late winter months of the 2013 -- 2014 winter season , and was also part of an unusually cold winter affecting parts of Canada and parts of the north-central and upper eastern United States . The event occurred in early 2014 and was caused by a southward shift of the North Polar Vortex . Record-low temperatures also extended well into March . On January 2 , an Arctic cold front initially associated with a nor'easter tracked across Canada and the United States , resulting in heavy snowfall . Temperatures fell to unprecedented levels , and low temperature records were broken across the United States . Business , school , and road closures were common , as well as mass flight cancellations . Altogether , more than 200 million people were affected , in an area ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and extending south to include roughly 187 million residents of the Continental United States . |
1545 | Carbon_dioxide | Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere has little to no effect. | Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a colorless gas with a density about 60 % higher than that of air ( 1.225 g/L ) that is odorless at normally encountered concentrations . Carbon dioxide consists of a carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms . It occurs naturally in Earth 's atmosphere as a trace gas at a concentration of about 0.04 percent ( 400 ppm ) by volume . Natural sources include volcanoes , hot springs and geysers , and it is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids . Because carbon dioxide is soluble in water , it occurs naturally in groundwater , rivers and lakes , ice caps , glaciers and seawater . It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas . As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle , atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth 's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena . Plants , algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water , with oxygen produced as a waste product . Carbon dioxide is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration . It is returned to water via the gills of fish and to the air via the lungs of air-breathing land animals , including humans . Carbon dioxide is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of sugars in bread , beer and winemaking . It is produced by combustion of wood and other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal , peat , petroleum and natural gas . It is a versatile industrial material , used , for example , as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers , as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery , as a chemical feedstock and in liquid form as a solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying . It is added to drinking water and carbonated beverages including beer and sparkling wine to add effervescence . The frozen solid form of , known as `` dry ice '' is used as a refrigerant and as an abrasive in dry-ice blasting . Carbon dioxide is the most significant long-lived greenhouse gas in Earth 's atmosphere . Since the Industrial Revolution anthropogenic emissions - primarily from use of fossil fuels and deforestation - have rapidly increased its concentration in the atmosphere , leading to global warming . Carbon dioxide also causes ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid . |
1629 | 21st_century | 97% of climate experts agree humans are causing global warming. | 21st century The 21st century is the current century of the Anno Domini era , in accordance with the Gregorian calendar . It began on January 1 , 2001 and will end on December 31 , 2100 . It is the first century of the 3rd millennium . It is distinct from the time span known as the 2000s , which began on January 1 , 2000 and will end on December 31 , 2099 . |
2076 | Cold_wave | Snowfall is increasing in the fall and winter in the Northern Hemisphere and North America with many records being set. | Cold wave A cold wave ( known in some regions as a cold snap ) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air . Specifically , as used by the U.S. National Weather Service , a cold wave is a rapid fall in temperature within a 24-hour period requiring substantially increased protection to agriculture , industry , commerce , and social activities . The precise criterion for a cold wave is determined by the rate at which the temperature falls , and the minimum to which it falls . This minimum temperature is dependent on the geographical region and time of year . In the United States , a cold spell is defined as the national average high temperature dropping below 20 F. |
3104 | Global_warming | the satellite sensors show less warming in the lower troposphere (approximately 10,000 feet above the earth's surface) than is reported by surface temperature readings. | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
1466 | Carbon_dioxide | This increase is the result of humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being absorbed into the oceans. | Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a colorless gas with a density about 60 % higher than that of air ( 1.225 g/L ) that is odorless at normally encountered concentrations . Carbon dioxide consists of a carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms . It occurs naturally in Earth 's atmosphere as a trace gas at a concentration of about 0.04 percent ( 400 ppm ) by volume . Natural sources include volcanoes , hot springs and geysers , and it is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids . Because carbon dioxide is soluble in water , it occurs naturally in groundwater , rivers and lakes , ice caps , glaciers and seawater . It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas . As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle , atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth 's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena . Plants , algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water , with oxygen produced as a waste product . Carbon dioxide is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration . It is returned to water via the gills of fish and to the air via the lungs of air-breathing land animals , including humans . Carbon dioxide is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of sugars in bread , beer and winemaking . It is produced by combustion of wood and other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal , peat , petroleum and natural gas . It is a versatile industrial material , used , for example , as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers , as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery , as a chemical feedstock and in liquid form as a solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying . It is added to drinking water and carbonated beverages including beer and sparkling wine to add effervescence . The frozen solid form of , known as `` dry ice '' is used as a refrigerant and as an abrasive in dry-ice blasting . Carbon dioxide is the most significant long-lived greenhouse gas in Earth 's atmosphere . Since the Industrial Revolution anthropogenic emissions - primarily from use of fossil fuels and deforestation - have rapidly increased its concentration in the atmosphere , leading to global warming . Carbon dioxide also causes ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid . |
2024 | Google | Wisconsin employers have repeatedly said in surveys that our anti-business litigation climate is one of the most important factors affecting their expansion decisions. | Google Google is an American multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products . These include online advertising technologies , search , cloud computing , software , and hardware . Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University , in California . Together , they own about 14 percent of its shares , and control 56 percent of the stockholder voting power through supervoting stock . They incorporated Google as a privately held company on September 4 , 1998 . An initial public offering ( IPO ) took place on August 19 , 2004 , and Google moved to its new headquarters in Mountain View , California , nicknamed the Googleplex . In August 2015 , Google announced plans to reorganize its various interests as a conglomerate called Alphabet Inc. . Google , Alphabet 's leading subsidiary , will continue to be the umbrella company for Alphabet 's Internet interests . Upon completion of the restructure , Sundar Pichai became CEO of Google , replacing Larry Page , who became CEO of Alphabet . Rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products , acquisitions , and partnerships beyond Google 's core search engine ( Google Search ) . It offers services designed for work and productivity ( Google Docs , Sheets and Slides ) , email ( Gmail/Inbox ) , scheduling and time management ( Google Calendar ) , cloud storage ( Google Drive ) , social networking ( Google + ) , instant messaging and video chat ( Google Allo/Duo/Hangouts ) , language translation ( Google Translate ) , mapping and turn-by-turn navigation ( Google Maps ) , video sharing ( YouTube ) , notetaking ( Google Keep ) , and photo organizing and editing ( Google Photos ) . The company leads the development of the Android mobile operating system , the Google Chrome web browser , and Chrome OS , a lightweight operating system based on the Chrome browser . Google has moved increasingly into hardware ; from 2010 to 2015 , it partnered with major electronics manufacturers in the production of its Nexus devices , and in October 2016 , it released multiple hardware products ( including the Google Pixel smartphone , Home smart speaker , Wifi mesh wireless router , and Daydream View virtual reality headset ) . The new hardware chief , Rick Osterloh , stated : `` a lot of the innovation that we want to do now ends up requiring controlling the end-to-end user experience '' . Google has also experimented with becoming an Internet carrier . In February 2010 , it announced Google Fiber , a fiber-optic infrastructure that was installed in Kansas City ; in April 2015 , it launched Project Fi in the United States , combining Wi-Fi and cellular networks from different providers ; and in 2016 , it announced the Google Station initiative to make public Wi-Fi around the world , which had already been deployed in India . Alexa , a company that monitors commercial web traffic , lists Google.com as the most visited website in the world . Several other Google services also figure in the top 100 most visited websites , including YouTube and Blogger . Google has been the second most valuable brand in the world for 4 consecutive years , but has received significant criticism involving issues such as privacy concerns , tax avoidance , antitrust , censorship , and search neutrality . Google 's mission statement , from the outset , was `` to organize the world 's information and make it universally accessible and useful '' , and its unofficial slogan was `` Do n't be evil '' . In October 2015 , the motto was replaced in the Alphabet corporate code of conduct by the phrase `` Do the right thing '' . |
1592 | Global_warming | 97% consensus on human-caused global warming has been disproven. | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
1963 | Greenhouse_gas | Tallahassee reduced its carbon intensity by roughly 40 percent. | Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas ( abbrev . GHG ) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range . This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect . The primary greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere are water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , and ozone . Without greenhouse gases , the average temperature of Earth 's surface would be about -18 ° C , rather than the present average of 15 ° C . In the Solar System , the atmospheres of Venus , Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect . Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution ( taken as the year 1750 ) have produced a 40 % increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide , from 280 ppm in 1750 to 406 ppm in early 2017 . This increase has occurred despite the uptake of a large portion of the emissions by various natural `` sinks '' involved in the carbon cycle . Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ( i.e. , emissions produced by human activities ) come from combustion of fossil fuels , principally coal , oil , and natural gas , along with deforestation , soil erosion and animal agriculture . It has been estimated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate , Earth 's surface temperature could exceed historical values as early as 2047 , with potentially harmful effects on ecosystems , biodiversity and the livelihoods of people worldwide . Recent estimates suggest that on the current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 ° C global warming , which the United Nations ' IPCC designated as the upper limit to avoid `` dangerous '' global warming , by 2036 . |
678 | Agriculture | In the process, the cows will emit much greenhouse gas, and they will consume far more calories in beans than they will yield in meat, meaning far more clearcutting of forests to farm cattle feed than would be necessary if the beans above were simply eaten by people." | Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the cultivation and breeding of animals , plants and fungi for food , fiber , biofuel , medicinal plants and other products used to sustain and enhance human life . Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization , whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization . The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science . The history of agriculture dates back thousands of years , and its development has been driven and defined by greatly different climates , cultures , and technologies . Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture farming has become the dominant agricultural methodology . Modern agronomy , plant breeding , agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers , and technological developments have in many cases sharply increased yields from cultivation , but at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative human health effects . Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat , but have raised concerns about animal welfare and the health effects of the antibiotics , growth hormones , and other chemicals commonly used in industrial meat production . Genetically modified organisms are an increasing component of agriculture , although they are banned in several countries . Agricultural food production and water management are increasingly becoming global issues that are fostering debate on a number of fronts . Significant degradation of land and water resources , including the depletion of aquifers , has been observed in recent decades , and the effects of global warming on agriculture and of agriculture on global warming are still not fully understood . The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods , fibers , fuels , and raw materials . Specific foods include cereals ( grains ) , vegetables , fruits , oils , meats and spices . Fibers include cotton , wool , hemp , silk and flax . Raw materials include lumber and bamboo . Other useful materials are also produced by plants , such as resins , dyes , drugs , perfumes , biofuels and ornamental products such as cut flowers and nursery plants . Over one third of the world 's workers are employed in agriculture , second only to the service sector , although the percentages of agricultural workers in developed countries has decreased significantly over the past several centuries . |
3112 | Hockey_stick_controversy | It also concludes that current northern hemisphere surface air temperatures are significantly higher than during the peak of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). | Hockey stick controversy In the hockey stick controversy , the data and methods used in reconstructions of the temperature record of the past 1000 years have been disputed . Reconstructions have consistently shown that the rise in the instrumental temperature record of the past 150 years is not matched in earlier centuries , and the name `` hockey stick graph '' was coined for figures showing a long-term decline followed by an abrupt rise in temperatures . These graphs were publicised to explain the scientific findings of climatology , and in addition to scientific debate over the reconstructions , they have been the topic of political dispute . The issue is part of the global warming controversy and has been one focus of political responses to reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) . Arguments over the reconstructions have been taken up by fossil fuel industry funded lobbying groups attempting to cast doubt on climate science . The use of proxy indicators to get quantitative estimates of the temperature record of past centuries was developed from the 1990s onwards , and found indications that recent warming was exceptional . The reconstruction introduced the `` Composite Plus Scaling '' ( CPS ) method used by most later large-scale reconstructions , and its findings were disputed by Patrick Michaels at the United States House Committee on Science . In 1998 , Michael E. Mann , Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes developed new statistical techniques to produce ( MBH98 ) , the first eigenvector-based climate field reconstruction ( CFR ) . This showed global patterns of annual surface temperature , and included a graph of average hemispheric temperatures back to 1400 . In ( MBH99 ) the methodology was extended back to 1000 . The term hockey stick was coined by the climatologist Jerry D. Mahlman , to describe the pattern this showed , envisaging a graph that is relatively flat to 1900 as forming an ice hockey stick 's `` shaft '' , followed by a sharp increase corresponding to the `` blade '' . A version of this graph was featured prominently in the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report ( TAR ) , along with four other reconstructions supporting the same conclusion . The graph was publicised , and became a focus of dispute for those opposed to the strengthening scientific consensus that late 20th-century warmth was exceptional . Those disputing the graph included Pat Michaels , the George C. Marshall Institute and Fred Singer . A paper by Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas claiming greater medieval warmth was used by the Bush administration chief of staff Philip Cooney to justify altering the first Environmental Protection Agency Report on the Environment . The paper was quickly dismissed by scientists in the Soon and Baliunas controversy , but on July 28 , Republican Jim Inhofe spoke in the Senate citing it to claim `` that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people '' . Later in 2003 , a paper by Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick disputing the data used in MBH98 paper was publicised by the George C. Marshall Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute . In 2004 , Hans von Storch published criticism of the statistical techniques as tending to underplay variations in earlier parts of the graph , though this was disputed and he later accepted that the effect was very small . In 2005 , McIntyre and McKitrick published criticisms of the principal component analysis methodology as used in MBH98 and MBH99 . The analysis therein was subsequently disputed by published papers , including and , which pointed to errors in the McIntyre and McKitrick methodology . In June 2005 , Rep. Joe Barton launched what Sherwood Boehlert , chairman of the House Science Committee , called a `` misguided and illegitimate investigation '' into the data , methods and personal information of Mann , Bradley and Hughes . At Boehlert 's request , a panel of scientists convened by the National Research Council was set up , which reported in 2006 , supporting Mann 's findings with some qualifications , including agreeing that there were some statistical failings but these had little effect on the result . Barton and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield requested Edward Wegman to set up a team of statisticians to investigate , and they supported McIntyre and McKitrick 's view that there were statistical failings , although they did not quantify whether there was any significant effect . They also produced an extensive network analysis which has been discredited by expert opinion and found to have issues of plagiarism . Arguments against the MBH studies were reintroduced as part of the Climatic Research Unit email controversy , but dismissed by eight independent investigations . More than two dozen reconstructions , using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records , have supported the broad consensus shown in the original 1998 hockey-stick graph , with variations in how flat the pre-20th century `` shaft '' appears . The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report cited 14 reconstructions , 10 of which covered 1,000 years or longer , to support its strengthened conclusion that it was likely that Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the 20th century were the highest in at least the past 1,300 years . Over a dozen subsequent reconstructions , including Mann et al. 2008 and , have supported these general conclusions . |
2395 | Sea_level_rise | While the Greenland interior is in mass balance, the coastlines are losing ice. | Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly . Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. . Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century . Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems . |
1818 | Greenhouse_gas | HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) are tens of thousands of times more polluting than carbon dioxide. | Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas ( abbrev . GHG ) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range . This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect . The primary greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere are water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , and ozone . Without greenhouse gases , the average temperature of Earth 's surface would be about -18 ° C , rather than the present average of 15 ° C . In the Solar System , the atmospheres of Venus , Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect . Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution ( taken as the year 1750 ) have produced a 40 % increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide , from 280 ppm in 1750 to 406 ppm in early 2017 . This increase has occurred despite the uptake of a large portion of the emissions by various natural `` sinks '' involved in the carbon cycle . Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ( i.e. , emissions produced by human activities ) come from combustion of fossil fuels , principally coal , oil , and natural gas , along with deforestation , soil erosion and animal agriculture . It has been estimated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate , Earth 's surface temperature could exceed historical values as early as 2047 , with potentially harmful effects on ecosystems , biodiversity and the livelihoods of people worldwide . Recent estimates suggest that on the current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 ° C global warming , which the United Nations ' IPCC designated as the upper limit to avoid `` dangerous '' global warming , by 2036 . |
1560 | Sea_level_rise | Sea level rise predictions are exaggerated. | Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly . Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. . Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century . Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems . |
1545 | Greenhouse_gas | Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere has little to no effect. | Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas ( abbrev . GHG ) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range . This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect . The primary greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere are water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , and ozone . Without greenhouse gases , the average temperature of Earth 's surface would be about -18 ° C , rather than the present average of 15 ° C . In the Solar System , the atmospheres of Venus , Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect . Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution ( taken as the year 1750 ) have produced a 40 % increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide , from 280 ppm in 1750 to 406 ppm in early 2017 . This increase has occurred despite the uptake of a large portion of the emissions by various natural `` sinks '' involved in the carbon cycle . Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ( i.e. , emissions produced by human activities ) come from combustion of fossil fuels , principally coal , oil , and natural gas , along with deforestation , soil erosion and animal agriculture . It has been estimated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate , Earth 's surface temperature could exceed historical values as early as 2047 , with potentially harmful effects on ecosystems , biodiversity and the livelihoods of people worldwide . Recent estimates suggest that on the current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 ° C global warming , which the United Nations ' IPCC designated as the upper limit to avoid `` dangerous '' global warming , by 2036 . |
1999 | Global_warming | there is no relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide emissions by humans[...] | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
2839 | Sea_level_rise | Ice mass loss is occuring at an accelerated rate in Greenland, Antarctica and globally from inland glaciers. | Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly . Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. . Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century . Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems . |
1996 | Coal_mining | There are already more American jobs in the solar industry than in coal mining. | Coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground . Coal is valued for its energy content , and , since the 1880s , has been widely used to generate electricity . Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production . In the United Kingdom and South Africa a coal mine and its structures are a colliery ; a coal mine a pit ; the above-ground structures the pit head . In Australia , `` colliery '' generally refers to an underground coal mine . In the United States `` colliery '' has been used to describe a coal mine operation but nowadays the word is not commonly used . Coal mining has had many developments over the recent years , from the early days of men tunnelling , digging and manually extracting the coal on carts , to large open cut and long wall mines . Mining at this scale requires the use of draglines , trucks , conveyors , hydraulic jacks and shearers . |
2880 | Thermal_energy_storage | For example, geothermal energy is available at all times, concentrated solar thermal energy has storage capability, and wind energy can be stored in compressed air. | Thermal energy storage Thermal energy storage ( TES ) is achieved with greatly differing technologies that collectively accommodate a wide range of needs . It allows excess thermal energy to be collected for later use , hours , days or many months later , at individual building , multiuser building , district , town , or even regional scale depending on the specific technology . As examples : energy demand can be balanced between daytime and nighttime ; summer heat from solar collectors can be stored interseasonally for use in winter ; and cold obtained from winter air can be provided for summer air conditioning . Storage media include : water or ice-slush tanks ranging from small to massive , masses of native earth or bedrock accessed with heat exchangers in clusters of small-diameter boreholes ( sometimes quite deep ) ; deep aquifers contained between impermeable strata ; shallow , lined pits filled with gravel and water and top-insulated ; and eutectic , phase-change materials . Other sources of thermal energy for storage include heat or cold produced with heat pumps from off-peak , lower cost electric power , a practice called peak shaving ; heat from combined heat and power ( CHP ) power plants ; heat produced by renewable electrical energy that exceeds grid demand and waste heat from industrial processes . Heat storage , both seasonal and short term , is considered an important means for cheaply balancing high shares of variable renewable electricity production and integration of electricity and heating sectors in energy systems almost or completely fed by renewable energy . |
2564 | Sea | This small warming is likely a result of the natural alterations in global ocean currents which are driven by ocean salinity variations. | Sea A sea is a large body of salt water that is surrounded in whole or in part by land . More broadly , `` the sea '' is the interconnected system of Earth 's salty , oceanic waters -- considered as one global ocean or as several principal oceanic divisions . The sea moderates Earth 's climate and has important roles in the water cycle , carbon cycle , and nitrogen cycle . Although the sea has been traveled and explored since prehistory , the modern scientific study of the sea -- oceanography -- dates broadly to the British Challenger expedition of the 1870s . The sea is conventionally divided into up to five large oceanic sections -- including the International Hydrographic Organization 's four named oceans ( the Atlantic , Pacific , Indian , and Arctic ) and the Southern Ocean ; smaller , second-order sections , such as the Mediterranean , are known as seas . Owing to the present state of continental drift , the Northern Hemisphere is now fairly equally divided between land and sea ( a ratio of about 2:3 ) but the South is overwhelmingly oceanic ( 1:4.7 ) . Salinity in the open ocean is generally in a narrow band around 3.5 % by mass , although this can vary in more landlocked waters , near the mouths of large rivers , or at great depths . About 85 % of the solids in the open sea are sodium chloride . Deep-sea currents are produced by differences in salinity and temperature . Surface currents are formed by the friction of waves produced by the wind and by tides , the changes in local sea level produced by the gravity of the Moon and Sun . The direction of all of these is governed by surface and submarine land masses and by the rotation of the Earth ( the Coriolis effect ) . Former changes in sea levels have left continental shelves , shallow areas in the sea close to land . These nutrient-rich waters teem with life , which provide humans with substantial supplies of food -- mainly fish , but also shellfish , mammals , and seaweed -- which are both harvested in the wild and farmed . The most diverse areas surround great tropical coral reefs . Whaling in the deep sea was once common but whales ' dwindling numbers prompted international conservation efforts and finally a moratorium on most commercial hunting . Oceanography has established that not all life is restricted to the sunlit surface waters : even under enormous depths and pressures , nutrients streaming from hydrothermal vents support their own unique ecosystem . Life may have started there and aquatic microbial mats are generally credited with the oxygenation of Earth 's atmosphere ; both plants and animals first evolved in the sea . The sea is an essential aspect of human trade , travel , mineral extraction , and power generation . This has also made it essential to warfare and left major cities exposed to earthquakes and volcanoes from nearby faults ; powerful tsunami waves ; and hurricanes , typhoons , and cyclones produced in the tropics . This importance and duality has affected human culture , from early sea gods to the epic poetry of Homer to the changes induced by the Columbian Exchange , from burial at sea to Basho 's haikus to hyperrealist marine art , and inspiring music ranging from the shanties in The Complaynt of Scotland to Rimsky-Korsakov 's `` The Sea and Sinbad 's Ship '' to A-mei 's `` Listen to the Sea '' . It is the scene of leisure activities including swimming , diving , surfing , and sailing . However , population growth , industrialization , and intensive farming have all contributed to present-day marine pollution . Atmospheric carbon dioxide is being absorbed in increasing amounts , lowering its pH in a process known as ocean acidification . The shared nature of the sea has made overfishing an increasing problem . |
351 | United_Kingdom | And from 1940 to today, flood damage as a percentage of GDP has fallen to less than 0.05 per cent per year from about 0.2 per cent. | United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK ) or Britain , is a sovereign country in western Europe . Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland , the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain , the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign statethe Republic of Ireland.Although Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state , two of its Overseas Territories also share land borders with other sovereign countries . Gibraltar shares a border with Spain , while the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia share borders with the Republic of Cyprus , the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the UN buffer zone separating the two Cypriot polities . Apart from this land border , the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to its east , the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-south-west , giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland . With an area of 242500 km2 , the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe . It is also the 21st-most populous country , with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants . Together , this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union ( EU ) . The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance . The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II , who has reigned since 6 February 1952 . The capital of the United Kingdom and its largest city is London , a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million , the fourth-largest in Europe and second-largest in the European Union . Other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the conurbations centred on Birmingham , Leeds , Glasgow , Liverpool and Manchester . The United Kingdom consists of four countries -- England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland . The last three have devolved administrations , each with varying powers , based in their capitals , Edinburgh , Cardiff and Belfast , respectively . The nearby Isle of Man , Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the United Kingdom , being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation . The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time . Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 . A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain , which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 , leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921 to resolve the Irish War of Independence . When it took effect one year later , it established the Irish Free State as a separate dominion within the Commonwealth . The UK 's current name was adopted to reflect the change . There are fourteen British Overseas Territories . These are the remnants of the British Empire which , at its height in the 1920s , encompassed almost a quarter of the world 's land mass and was the largest empire in history . British influence can be observed in the language , culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies . The United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world 's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity . The UK is considered to have a high-income economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index , ranking 16th in the world . It was the world 's first industrialised country and the world 's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries . The UK remains a great power with considerable economic , cultural , military , scientific and political influence internationally . It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and is seventh in military expenditure in the world . The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 . It has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor , the European Economic Community ( EEC ) , since 1973 . However , on 23 June 2016 , a national referendum on the UK 's membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave , and its exit from the EU is currently being negotiated . The UK is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , the Council of Europe , the G7 finance ministers , the G7 forum , the G20 , NATO , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) , and the World Trade Organization ( WTO ) . |
1315 | 2015_Indian_heat_wave | cold kills many more people than heat. | 2015 Indian heat wave In May 2015 , India was struck by a severe heat wave . , it has caused the deaths of at least 2,500 people in multiple regions . The heat wave occurred during the Indian dry season , which typically lasts from March to July with peak temperatures in April and May . Although it typically remains hot until late October , Indian monsoons often provide some respite from the heat . The South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring Telangana , where more than 1,735 and 585 people died respectively , were the areas most affected by the heat wave . Other casualties were from the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha . The high demand for electricity to power air conditioning led to power outages in some cities . The 2015 heat wave has had the highest recorded temperatures since 1995 . In May 2016 , a new record was set in Phalodi . |
2600 | Greenhouse_gas | "We have been grossly misled to think there is tens of thousands of times as much CO2 as there is! | Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas ( abbrev . GHG ) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range . This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect . The primary greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere are water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , and ozone . Without greenhouse gases , the average temperature of Earth 's surface would be about -18 ° C , rather than the present average of 15 ° C . In the Solar System , the atmospheres of Venus , Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect . Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution ( taken as the year 1750 ) have produced a 40 % increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide , from 280 ppm in 1750 to 406 ppm in early 2017 . This increase has occurred despite the uptake of a large portion of the emissions by various natural `` sinks '' involved in the carbon cycle . Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ( i.e. , emissions produced by human activities ) come from combustion of fossil fuels , principally coal , oil , and natural gas , along with deforestation , soil erosion and animal agriculture . It has been estimated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate , Earth 's surface temperature could exceed historical values as early as 2047 , with potentially harmful effects on ecosystems , biodiversity and the livelihoods of people worldwide . Recent estimates suggest that on the current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 ° C global warming , which the United Nations ' IPCC designated as the upper limit to avoid `` dangerous '' global warming , by 2036 . |
520 | Carbon_dioxide | Just 1.25 per cent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere-ocean system has been released by humans in the past 250 years. | Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a colorless gas with a density about 60 % higher than that of air ( 1.225 g/L ) that is odorless at normally encountered concentrations . Carbon dioxide consists of a carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms . It occurs naturally in Earth 's atmosphere as a trace gas at a concentration of about 0.04 percent ( 400 ppm ) by volume . Natural sources include volcanoes , hot springs and geysers , and it is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids . Because carbon dioxide is soluble in water , it occurs naturally in groundwater , rivers and lakes , ice caps , glaciers and seawater . It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas . As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle , atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth 's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena . Plants , algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water , with oxygen produced as a waste product . Carbon dioxide is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration . It is returned to water via the gills of fish and to the air via the lungs of air-breathing land animals , including humans . Carbon dioxide is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of sugars in bread , beer and winemaking . It is produced by combustion of wood and other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal , peat , petroleum and natural gas . It is a versatile industrial material , used , for example , as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers , as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery , as a chemical feedstock and in liquid form as a solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying . It is added to drinking water and carbonated beverages including beer and sparkling wine to add effervescence . The frozen solid form of , known as `` dry ice '' is used as a refrigerant and as an abrasive in dry-ice blasting . Carbon dioxide is the most significant long-lived greenhouse gas in Earth 's atmosphere . Since the Industrial Revolution anthropogenic emissions - primarily from use of fossil fuels and deforestation - have rapidly increased its concentration in the atmosphere , leading to global warming . Carbon dioxide also causes ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid . |
33 | Petroleum | Harvard study finds that wind turbines create MORE global warming than the fossil fuels they eliminate | Petroleum Petroleum ( from petra #Greek : `` rock '' + oleum #Latin : `` oil '' . ) is a naturally occurring , yellow-to-black liquid found in geological formations beneath the Earth 's surface , which is commonly refined into various types of fuels . Components of petroleum are separated using a technique called fractional distillation . It consists of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other organic compounds . The name petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil . A fossil fuel , petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms , usually zooplankton and algae , are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to both intense heat and pressure . Petroleum has mostly been recovered by oil drilling ( natural petroleum springs are rare ) . Drilling is carried out after studies of structural geology ( at the reservoir scale ) , sedimentary basin analysis , and reservoir characterization ( mainly in terms of the porosity and permeability of geologic reservoir structures ) have been completed . It is refined and separated , most easily by distillation , into a large number of consumer products , from gasoline ( petrol ) and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals . Petroleum is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials , and it is estimated that the world consumes about 95 million barrels each day . Concern over the depletion of the earth 's finite reserves of oil , and the effect this would have on a society dependent on it , is a concept known as peak oil . The use of fossil fuels , such as petroleum , will have a negative impact on Earth 's biosphere , damaging ecosystems through events such as oil spills and releasing a range of pollutants into the air including ground-level ozone and sulfur dioxide from sulfur impurities in fossil fuels . The burning of fossil fuels plays the major role in the current episode of global warming . |
2709 | Fossil_fuel | When you account for the effects which are not reflected in the market price of fossil fuels, like air pollution and health impacts, the true cost of coal and other fossil fuels is higher than the cost of most renewable energy technologies. | Fossil fuel Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms , containing energy originating in ancient photosynthesis . The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years , and sometimes exceeds 650 million years . Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include petroleum , coal , and natural gas . Other commonly used derivatives include kerosene and propane . Fossil fuels range from volatile materials with low carbon to hydrogen ratios like methane , to liquids like petroleum , to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon , like anthracite coal . Methane can be found in hydrocarbon fields either alone , associated with oil , or in the form of methane clathrates . The theory that fossil fuels formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth 's crust over millions of years was first introduced by Georgius Agricola in 1556 and later by Mikhail Lomonosov in the 18th century . The Energy Information Administration estimates that in 2007 the primary sources of energy consisted of petroleum 36.0 % , coal 27.4 % , natural gas 23.0 % , amounting to an 86.4 % share for fossil fuels in primary energy consumption in the world . Non-fossil sources in 2006 included nuclear 8.5 % , hydroelectric 6.3 % , and others ( geothermal , solar , tidal , wind , wood , waste ) amounting to 0.9 % . World energy consumption was growing about 2.3 % per year . Although fossil fuels are continually being formed via natural processes , they are generally considered to be non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form and the known viable reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being made . The use of fossil fuels raises serious environmental concerns . The burning of fossil fuels produces around 21.3 billion tonnes ( 21.3 gigatonnes ) of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) per year . It is estimated that natural processes can only absorb about half of that amount , so there is a net increase of 10.65 billion tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide per year . Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that increases radiative forcing and contributes to global warming . A global movement towards the generation of renewable energy is underway to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions . |
1292 | 2015_United_Kingdom_general_election | Any reasonable person can recognize both positives and negatives among the policy proposals of both Tories and Labour. | 2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first general election at the end of a fixed-term Parliament. Local elections took place in most areas on the same day. Polls and commentators had predicted the outcome would be too close to call and would result in a second consecutive hung parliament that would be either similar or more complicated than the 2010 election. Opinion polls were eventually proven to have underestimated the Conservative vote as the party unexpectedly won an outright majority, which bore resemblance to its victory at the 1992 general election. Having governed in coalition with the Liberal Democrats since 2010, the Conservatives won 330 seats and 36.9% of the vote share, giving them a small overall majority of 12 seats and their first outright win for 23 years. The Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband, saw a small increase in its share of the vote to 30.4%, but incurred a net loss of seats to return 232 MPs. This was its lowest seat tally since the 1987 general election. Senior Labour Shadow Cabinet members, notably Ed Balls, Douglas Alexander, and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, were defeated. The Scottish National Party, enjoying a surge in support after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, recorded a number of swings of over 30% from Labour, as it won 56 of the 59 Scottish seats to become the third-largest party in the Commons. The Liberal Democrats, led by outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, had their worst result since their formation in 1988, holding just eight out of their previous 57 seats, with Cabinet ministers Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Danny Alexander losing their seats. UKIP came third in terms of votes with 12.6%, but won only one seat, with party leader Nigel Farage failing to win the seat of South Thanet. The Green Party won its highest-ever share of the vote with 3.8%, and retained its only seat. Labour's Miliband (as national leader) and Murphy (as Scottish leader) both resigned, as did Clegg. In Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionist Party returned to the Commons with two MPs after a five-year absence, while the Alliance Party lost its only seat despite an increase in total vote share. |
2030 | Climate_change_denial | Opponents of climate action are getting twice as much airtime as proponents of climate action. | Climate change denial Climate change denial , or global warming denial , is part of the global warming controversy . It involves denial , dismissal , unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which strongly depart from the scientific opinion on climate change , including the extent to which it is caused by humans , its impacts on nature and human society , or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions . Some deniers do endorse the term , but others often prefer the term climate change skepticism , although this is a misnomer for those who deny anthropogenic global warming . In effect , the two terms form a continuous , overlapping range of views , and generally have the same characteristics : both reject , to a greater or lesser extent , mainstream scientific opinion on climate change . Climate change denial can also be implicit , when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action . Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism . Campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science has been described as a `` denial machine '' of industrial , political and ideological interests , supported by conservative media and skeptical bloggers in manufacturing uncertainty about global warming . In the public debate , phrases such as climate skepticism have frequently been used with the same meaning as climate denialism . The labels are contested : those actively challenging climate science commonly describe themselves as `` skeptics '' , but many do not comply with common standards of scientific skepticism and , regardless of evidence , persistently deny the validity of human caused global warming . Although scientific opinion on climate change is that human activity is extremely likely to be the primary driver of climate change , the politics of global warming have been affected by climate change denial , hindering efforts to prevent climate change and adapt to the warming climate . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none . Of the world 's countries , the climate change denial industry is most powerful in the United States . Since January 2015 , the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has been chaired by oil lobbyist and climate change denier Jim Inhofe . Inhofe is notorious for having called climate change `` the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people '' and for having claimed to have debunked the alleged hoax in February 2015 when he brought a snowball with him in the Senate chamber and tossed it across the floor . Organised campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science is associated with conservative economic policies and backed by industrial interests opposed to the regulation of emissions . Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby , the Koch brothers , industry advocates and libertarian think tanks , often in the United States . More than 90 % of papers sceptical on climate change originate from right-wing think tanks . The total annual income of these climate change counter-movement-organizations is roughly $ 900 million . Between 2002 and 2010 , nearly $ 120 million ( # 77 million ) was anonymously donated via the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund to more than 100 organisations seeking to undermine the public perception of the science on climate change . In 2013 the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the State Policy Network ( SPN ) , an umbrella group of 64 U.S. think tanks , had been lobbying on behalf of major corporations and conservative donors to oppose climate change regulation . Since the late 1970s , oil companies have published research broadly in line with the standard views on global warming . Despite this , oil companies organized a climate change denial campaign to disseminate public disinformation for several decades , a strategy that has been compared to the organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking by tobacco companies . |
2410 | Climate_change_denial | "There is no actual evidence that carbon dioxide emissions are causing global warming. | Climate change denial Climate change denial , or global warming denial , is part of the global warming controversy . It involves denial , dismissal , unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which strongly depart from the scientific opinion on climate change , including the extent to which it is caused by humans , its impacts on nature and human society , or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions . Some deniers do endorse the term , but others often prefer the term climate change skepticism , although this is a misnomer for those who deny anthropogenic global warming . In effect , the two terms form a continuous , overlapping range of views , and generally have the same characteristics : both reject , to a greater or lesser extent , mainstream scientific opinion on climate change . Climate change denial can also be implicit , when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action . Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism . Campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science has been described as a `` denial machine '' of industrial , political and ideological interests , supported by conservative media and skeptical bloggers in manufacturing uncertainty about global warming . In the public debate , phrases such as climate skepticism have frequently been used with the same meaning as climate denialism . The labels are contested : those actively challenging climate science commonly describe themselves as `` skeptics '' , but many do not comply with common standards of scientific skepticism and , regardless of evidence , persistently deny the validity of human caused global warming . Although scientific opinion on climate change is that human activity is extremely likely to be the primary driver of climate change , the politics of global warming have been affected by climate change denial , hindering efforts to prevent climate change and adapt to the warming climate . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none . Of the world 's countries , the climate change denial industry is most powerful in the United States . Since January 2015 , the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has been chaired by oil lobbyist and climate change denier Jim Inhofe . Inhofe is notorious for having called climate change `` the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people '' and for having claimed to have debunked the alleged hoax in February 2015 when he brought a snowball with him in the Senate chamber and tossed it across the floor . Organised campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science is associated with conservative economic policies and backed by industrial interests opposed to the regulation of emissions . Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby , the Koch brothers , industry advocates and libertarian think tanks , often in the United States . More than 90 % of papers sceptical on climate change originate from right-wing think tanks . The total annual income of these climate change counter-movement-organizations is roughly $ 900 million . Between 2002 and 2010 , nearly $ 120 million ( # 77 million ) was anonymously donated via the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund to more than 100 organisations seeking to undermine the public perception of the science on climate change . In 2013 the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the State Policy Network ( SPN ) , an umbrella group of 64 U.S. think tanks , had been lobbying on behalf of major corporations and conservative donors to oppose climate change regulation . Since the late 1970s , oil companies have published research broadly in line with the standard views on global warming . Despite this , oil companies organized a climate change denial campaign to disseminate public disinformation for several decades , a strategy that has been compared to the organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking by tobacco companies . |
1019 | La_Niña | An additional kick was supplied by an El Niño weather pattern that peaked in 2016 and temporarily warmed much of the surface of the planet, causing the hottest year in a historical record dating to 1880. | La Niña La Niña ( -LSB- lɑːˈniːnjə -RSB- , -LSB- la ˈniɲa -RSB- ) is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of El Niño as part of the broader El Niño -- Southern Oscillation climate pattern . The name La Niña originates from Spanish , meaning `` the little girl '' , analogous to El Niño meaning `` the little boy '' . It has also in the past been called anti-El Niño , and El Viejo ( meaning `` the old man '' ) . During a period of La Niña , the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3 to 5 ° C . In the United States , an appearance of La Niña persists for at least five months . It has extensive effects on the weather in North America , even affecting the Atlantic Hurricane Season . |
1246 | Arctic_sea_ice_decline | Most people expect this year will see a record low in the Arctic's summer sea-ice cover. | Arctic sea ice decline Arctic sea ice decline is the sea ice loss observed in recent decades in the Arctic Ocean . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fourth Assessment Report states that greenhouse gas forcing is largely , but not wholly , responsible for the decline in Arctic sea ice extent . A study from 2011 suggested that internal variability enhanced the greenhouse gas forced sea ice decline over the last decades . A study from 2007 found the decline to be `` faster than forecasted '' by model simulations . The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report concluded with high confidence that sea ice continues to decrease in extent , and that there is robust evidence for the downward trend in Arctic summer sea ice extent since 1979 . It has been established that the region is at its warmest for at least 40,000 years and the Arctic-wide melt season has lengthened at a rate of 5 days per decade ( from 1979 to 2013 ) , dominated by a later autumn freezeup . Sea ice changes have been identified as a mechanism for polar amplification . |
1842 | Koko_(gorilla) | A video shows Koko the gorilla spontaneously using sign language to issue a warning about climate change. | Koko (gorilla) Hanabiko `` Koko '' ( born July 4 , 1971 ) is a female western lowland gorilla who is known for having learned a large number of hand signs from a modified version of American Sign Language ( ASL ) . Her instructor and caregiver , animal psychologist Francine `` Penny '' Patterson , reports that Koko is able to understand more than 1,000 signs of what Patterson calls `` Gorilla Sign Language '' ( GSL ) . In contrast to other experiments attempting to teach sign language to non-human primates , Patterson simultaneously exposed Koko to spoken English from an early age . Reports state that Koko understands approximately 2,000 words of spoken English , in addition to the signs . Koko 's life and learning process has been described by Patterson and some of her collaborators in a number of books , peer reviewed articles , and on a website . As with other great ape language experiments , the extent to which Koko has mastered and demonstrates language through the use of these signs is disputed . But it is generally accepted that she does not use syntax or grammar , and that her use of language does not exceed that of a young human child . Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo and has lived most of her life in Woodside , California , although a move to a sanctuary on Maui , Hawaii , has been planned since the 1990s . The name is a reference to her date of birth , the Fourth of July . Koko gained public attention upon initial reportage of her adopting a kitten as a pet . |
2571 | Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change | The error was incorrect citation, failing to mention the peer-reviewed papers where the data came from. | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) is a scientific and intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations , set up at the request of member governments , dedicated to the task of providing the world with an objective , scientific view of climate change and its political and economic impacts . It was first established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations , the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) and the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) , and later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 43/53 . Membership of the IPCC is open to all members of the WMO and UNEP . The IPCC produces reports that support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , which is the main international treaty on climate change . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to `` stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic -LSB- i.e. , human-induced -RSB- interference with the climate system '' . IPCC reports cover `` the scientific , technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change , its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation . '' The IPCC does not carry out its own original research , nor does it do the work of monitoring climate or related phenomena itself . The IPCC bases its assessment on the published literature , which includes peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed sources . Thousands of scientists and other experts contribute ( on a voluntary basis , without payment from the IPCC ) to writing and reviewing reports , which are then reviewed by governments . IPCC reports contain a `` Summary for Policymakers '' , which is subject to line-by-line approval by delegates from all participating governments . Typically this involves the governments of more than 120 countries . The IPCC provides an internationally accepted authority on climate change , producing reports which have the agreement of leading climate scientists and the consensus of participating governments . The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared , in equal parts , between the IPCC and Al Gore . |
1829 | Trophic_cascade | "the cascading effects" of climate change contributed to the rise of ISIS. | Trophic cascade Trophic cascades occur when predators in a food web suppress the abundance or alter the behavior of their prey , thereby releasing the next lower trophic level from predation ( or herbivory if the intermediate trophic level is a herbivore ) . For example , if the abundance of large piscivorous fish is increased in a lake , the abundance of their prey , smaller fish that eat zooplankton , should decrease . The resulting increase in zooplankton should , in turn , cause the biomass of its prey , phytoplankton , to decrease . The trophic cascade is an ecological concept which has stimulated new research in many areas of ecology . For example , it can be important for understanding the knock-on effects of removing top predators from food webs , as humans have done in many places through hunting and fishing . A top-down cascade is a trophic cascade where the food chain or food web is disrupted by the removal of a top predator , or a third or fourth level consumer . On the other hand , a bottom-up cascade occurs when a primary producer , or primary consumer is removed , and there is a reduction of population size through the community . |
1360 | Usage_share_of_operating_systems | In fact, the trend, while not statistically significant, is downward." | Usage share of operating systems The usage share of operating systems is the percentage of the operating systems used in computing devices ( approximately market share , also discussed in the article ) . There are `` three big personal computing platforms '' , two of which claim over 1.4 billion users , Android and Windows . The third `` platform '' or strictly two ( or three ) platformsApple 's iOS and macOS combined , have over 1 billion users . Historically Windows running on desktop computers was dominant ( Macintosh computers were previously the more popular desktop computers , and those followed the mainframe computer-era ) , for a 25 year period from the early 1990s to 2016 . From late 2016 the mobile era took over , with the desktop computers ' market share ( measured by web usage ; including macOS ) was down to 45.22 % in January 2017 , an `` end of an era '' was declared by StatCounter for Windows ( and the desktop in general ) as no longer most popular , since smartphones alone , ( excluding tablets ) , because of Android , have majority use globally . Different categories of computers use a wide variety of operating systems ( OS ) . Windows gained majority usage share in the 1990s , on desktops ( the computer platform then taking over ) , eventually described as `` dominant '' ( and still has a majority as a `` desktop OS '' ) but is not dominant across all platforms ( while latest version runs on all platforms ) . On smartphones , Android is dominant by any metric ; its installed base is 1.8 billion , which tops Windows on PCs . No operating system has a clear majority across all platforms or all regions ; as judged by web usea proxy for all useAndroid has surpassed Windows , when counted across all platforms and regions . Android is the highest ranked OS in most countries of the world ( even a few in Europe , such as Poland with majority use ) ; leading to it ( with some help from other mobile operating systems such as Apple 's ) eventually , in late 2016 , making the world smartphone-majority . Android alone explains that to a large degree , smartphones alone have majority use , where Android is dominant . Android has over half the usage share across platforms ( even with it not used much on desktops ) in the two biggest continents ( and most populous with 76 % combined ) , Africa and Asia . For brief periods , countries on other continents , such as the United States , have lost desktops-majority share ; that has also happened for South America . Since 2013 , devices running Android have been selling more than Windows , iOS and macOS devices combined . That made Android the most popular operating system that runs on smartphones , while iOS is more used on tablets . Most desktop and laptop computers use Microsoft Windows , while virtually all supercomputers ( and for over a decade back ) use Linux . In the servers category , there is more diversity , with Linux and Windows Server most popular , and many fewer mainframes . Data about operating system share is difficult to obtain , since in most categories there are few reliable primary sources or agreed methodologies for its collection . |
2733 | Global_warming | A number of independent studies using near-global satellite data find positive feedback and high climate sensitivity. | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
623 | Seamount | The noted oceanographer Walter Munk referred to sea-level rise as an "enigma" | Seamount A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water 's surface ( sea level ) , and thus is not an island . Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from the seafloor to 1000 - in height . They are defined by oceanographers as independent features that rise to at least 1000 m above the seafloor , characteristically of conical form . The peaks are often found hundreds to thousands of meters below the surface , and are therefore considered to be within the deep sea . During their evolution over geologic time , the largest seamounts may reach the sea surface where wave action erodes the summit to form a flat surface . After they have subsided and sunk below the sea surface such flat-top seamounts are called `` guyots '' or `` tablemounts '' A total of 9,951 seamounts and 283 guyots , covering a total of 8,796,150 km2 have been mapped but only a few have been studied in detail by scientists . Seamounts and guyots are most abundant in the North Pacific Ocean , and follow a distinctive evolutionary pattern of eruption , build-up , subsidence and erosion . In recent years , several active seamounts have been observed , for example Loihi in the Hawaiian Islands . Because of their abundance , seamounts are one of the most common marine ecosystems in the world . Interactions between seamounts and underwater currents , as well as their elevated position in the water , attract plankton , corals , fish , and marine mammals alike . Their aggregational effect has been noted by the commercial fishing industry , and many seamounts support extensive fisheries . There are ongoing concerns on the negative impact of fishing on seamount ecosystems , and well-documented cases of stock decline , for example with the orange roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus ) . 95 % of ecological damage is done by bottom trawling , which scrapes whole ecosystems off seamounts . Because of their large numbers , many seamounts remain to be properly studied , and even mapped . Bathymetry and satellite altimetry are two technologies working to close the gap . There have been instances where naval vessels have collided with uncharted seamounts ; for example , Muirfield Seamount is named after the ship that struck it in 1973 . However , the greatest danger from seamounts are flank collapses ; as they get older , extrusions seeping in the seamounts put pressure on their sides , causing landslides that have the potential to generate massive tsunamis . |
198 | Carbon_dioxide | For decades horticulturalists have pumped carbon dioxide into glasshouses to increase yields. | Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a colorless gas with a density about 60 % higher than that of air ( 1.225 g/L ) that is odorless at normally encountered concentrations . Carbon dioxide consists of a carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms . It occurs naturally in Earth 's atmosphere as a trace gas at a concentration of about 0.04 percent ( 400 ppm ) by volume . Natural sources include volcanoes , hot springs and geysers , and it is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids . Because carbon dioxide is soluble in water , it occurs naturally in groundwater , rivers and lakes , ice caps , glaciers and seawater . It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas . As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle , atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth 's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena . Plants , algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water , with oxygen produced as a waste product . Carbon dioxide is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration . It is returned to water via the gills of fish and to the air via the lungs of air-breathing land animals , including humans . Carbon dioxide is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of sugars in bread , beer and winemaking . It is produced by combustion of wood and other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal , peat , petroleum and natural gas . It is a versatile industrial material , used , for example , as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers , as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery , as a chemical feedstock and in liquid form as a solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying . It is added to drinking water and carbonated beverages including beer and sparkling wine to add effervescence . The frozen solid form of , known as `` dry ice '' is used as a refrigerant and as an abrasive in dry-ice blasting . Carbon dioxide is the most significant long-lived greenhouse gas in Earth 's atmosphere . Since the Industrial Revolution anthropogenic emissions - primarily from use of fossil fuels and deforestation - have rapidly increased its concentration in the atmosphere , leading to global warming . Carbon dioxide also causes ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid . |
2488 | Hockey_stick_controversy | However, it is unable to explain the long term warming trend over the past few decades. | Hockey stick controversy In the hockey stick controversy , the data and methods used in reconstructions of the temperature record of the past 1000 years have been disputed . Reconstructions have consistently shown that the rise in the instrumental temperature record of the past 150 years is not matched in earlier centuries , and the name `` hockey stick graph '' was coined for figures showing a long-term decline followed by an abrupt rise in temperatures . These graphs were publicised to explain the scientific findings of climatology , and in addition to scientific debate over the reconstructions , they have been the topic of political dispute . The issue is part of the global warming controversy and has been one focus of political responses to reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) . Arguments over the reconstructions have been taken up by fossil fuel industry funded lobbying groups attempting to cast doubt on climate science . The use of proxy indicators to get quantitative estimates of the temperature record of past centuries was developed from the 1990s onwards , and found indications that recent warming was exceptional . The reconstruction introduced the `` Composite Plus Scaling '' ( CPS ) method used by most later large-scale reconstructions , and its findings were disputed by Patrick Michaels at the United States House Committee on Science . In 1998 , Michael E. Mann , Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes developed new statistical techniques to produce ( MBH98 ) , the first eigenvector-based climate field reconstruction ( CFR ) . This showed global patterns of annual surface temperature , and included a graph of average hemispheric temperatures back to 1400 . In ( MBH99 ) the methodology was extended back to 1000 . The term hockey stick was coined by the climatologist Jerry D. Mahlman , to describe the pattern this showed , envisaging a graph that is relatively flat to 1900 as forming an ice hockey stick 's `` shaft '' , followed by a sharp increase corresponding to the `` blade '' . A version of this graph was featured prominently in the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report ( TAR ) , along with four other reconstructions supporting the same conclusion . The graph was publicised , and became a focus of dispute for those opposed to the strengthening scientific consensus that late 20th-century warmth was exceptional . Those disputing the graph included Pat Michaels , the George C. Marshall Institute and Fred Singer . A paper by Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas claiming greater medieval warmth was used by the Bush administration chief of staff Philip Cooney to justify altering the first Environmental Protection Agency Report on the Environment . The paper was quickly dismissed by scientists in the Soon and Baliunas controversy , but on July 28 , Republican Jim Inhofe spoke in the Senate citing it to claim `` that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people '' . Later in 2003 , a paper by Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick disputing the data used in MBH98 paper was publicised by the George C. Marshall Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute . In 2004 , Hans von Storch published criticism of the statistical techniques as tending to underplay variations in earlier parts of the graph , though this was disputed and he later accepted that the effect was very small . In 2005 , McIntyre and McKitrick published criticisms of the principal component analysis methodology as used in MBH98 and MBH99 . The analysis therein was subsequently disputed by published papers , including and , which pointed to errors in the McIntyre and McKitrick methodology . In June 2005 , Rep. Joe Barton launched what Sherwood Boehlert , chairman of the House Science Committee , called a `` misguided and illegitimate investigation '' into the data , methods and personal information of Mann , Bradley and Hughes . At Boehlert 's request , a panel of scientists convened by the National Research Council was set up , which reported in 2006 , supporting Mann 's findings with some qualifications , including agreeing that there were some statistical failings but these had little effect on the result . Barton and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield requested Edward Wegman to set up a team of statisticians to investigate , and they supported McIntyre and McKitrick 's view that there were statistical failings , although they did not quantify whether there was any significant effect . They also produced an extensive network analysis which has been discredited by expert opinion and found to have issues of plagiarism . Arguments against the MBH studies were reintroduced as part of the Climatic Research Unit email controversy , but dismissed by eight independent investigations . More than two dozen reconstructions , using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records , have supported the broad consensus shown in the original 1998 hockey-stick graph , with variations in how flat the pre-20th century `` shaft '' appears . The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report cited 14 reconstructions , 10 of which covered 1,000 years or longer , to support its strengthened conclusion that it was likely that Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the 20th century were the highest in at least the past 1,300 years . Over a dozen subsequent reconstructions , including Mann et al. 2008 and , have supported these general conclusions . |
1615 | Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change | Climate change isn't increasing extreme weather damage costs. | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) is a scientific and intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations , set up at the request of member governments , dedicated to the task of providing the world with an objective , scientific view of climate change and its political and economic impacts . It was first established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations , the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) and the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) , and later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 43/53 . Membership of the IPCC is open to all members of the WMO and UNEP . The IPCC produces reports that support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , which is the main international treaty on climate change . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to `` stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic -LSB- i.e. , human-induced -RSB- interference with the climate system '' . IPCC reports cover `` the scientific , technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change , its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation . '' The IPCC does not carry out its own original research , nor does it do the work of monitoring climate or related phenomena itself . The IPCC bases its assessment on the published literature , which includes peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed sources . Thousands of scientists and other experts contribute ( on a voluntary basis , without payment from the IPCC ) to writing and reviewing reports , which are then reviewed by governments . IPCC reports contain a `` Summary for Policymakers '' , which is subject to line-by-line approval by delegates from all participating governments . Typically this involves the governments of more than 120 countries . The IPCC provides an internationally accepted authority on climate change , producing reports which have the agreement of leading climate scientists and the consensus of participating governments . The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared , in equal parts , between the IPCC and Al Gore . |
1670 | James_Hansen | Scientists have determined that the factors which caused the Little Ice Age cooling are not currently causing global warming. | James Hansen James Edward Hansen ( born 29 March 1941 ) is an American adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University . He is best known for his research in climatology , his 1988 Congressional testimony on climate change that helped raise broad awareness of global warming , and his advocacy of action to avoid dangerous climate change . In recent years he has become a climate activist to mitigate the effects of climate change , on a few occasions leading to his arrest . In 2000 , Hansen advanced an alternative view of global warming over the last 100 years , arguing that during that time frame the negative forcing via aerosols and the positive forcing via largely balanced each other out , and that the 0.74 ± 0.18 ° C net rise in average global temperatures could mostly be explained by greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide , such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons . However , even then he wrote `` the future balance of forcings is likely to shift toward dominance of CO2 over aerosols '' |
189 | Climate_change_denial | The geological history of the planet shows major planetary climate changes have never been driven by a trace gas | Climate change denial Climate change denial , or global warming denial , is part of the global warming controversy . It involves denial , dismissal , unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which strongly depart from the scientific opinion on climate change , including the extent to which it is caused by humans , its impacts on nature and human society , or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions . Some deniers do endorse the term , but others often prefer the term climate change skepticism , although this is a misnomer for those who deny anthropogenic global warming . In effect , the two terms form a continuous , overlapping range of views , and generally have the same characteristics : both reject , to a greater or lesser extent , mainstream scientific opinion on climate change . Climate change denial can also be implicit , when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action . Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism . Campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science has been described as a `` denial machine '' of industrial , political and ideological interests , supported by conservative media and skeptical bloggers in manufacturing uncertainty about global warming . In the public debate , phrases such as climate skepticism have frequently been used with the same meaning as climate denialism . The labels are contested : those actively challenging climate science commonly describe themselves as `` skeptics '' , but many do not comply with common standards of scientific skepticism and , regardless of evidence , persistently deny the validity of human caused global warming . Although scientific opinion on climate change is that human activity is extremely likely to be the primary driver of climate change , the politics of global warming have been affected by climate change denial , hindering efforts to prevent climate change and adapt to the warming climate . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none . Of the world 's countries , the climate change denial industry is most powerful in the United States . Since January 2015 , the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has been chaired by oil lobbyist and climate change denier Jim Inhofe . Inhofe is notorious for having called climate change `` the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people '' and for having claimed to have debunked the alleged hoax in February 2015 when he brought a snowball with him in the Senate chamber and tossed it across the floor . Organised campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science is associated with conservative economic policies and backed by industrial interests opposed to the regulation of emissions . Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby , the Koch brothers , industry advocates and libertarian think tanks , often in the United States . More than 90 % of papers sceptical on climate change originate from right-wing think tanks . The total annual income of these climate change counter-movement-organizations is roughly $ 900 million . Between 2002 and 2010 , nearly $ 120 million ( # 77 million ) was anonymously donated via the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund to more than 100 organisations seeking to undermine the public perception of the science on climate change . In 2013 the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the State Policy Network ( SPN ) , an umbrella group of 64 U.S. think tanks , had been lobbying on behalf of major corporations and conservative donors to oppose climate change regulation . Since the late 1970s , oil companies have published research broadly in line with the standard views on global warming . Despite this , oil companies organized a climate change denial campaign to disseminate public disinformation for several decades , a strategy that has been compared to the organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking by tobacco companies . |
2136 | Renewable_energy | Renewables can't provide baseload power | Renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources , which are naturally replenished on a human timescale , such as sunlight , wind , rain , tides , waves , and geothermal heat . Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas : electricity generation , air and water heating/cooling , transportation , and rural ( off-grid ) energy services . Based on REN21 's 2016 report , renewables contributed 19.2 % to humans ' global energy consumption and 23.7 % to their generation of electricity in 2014 and 2015 , respectively . This energy consumption is divided as 8.9 % coming from traditional biomass , 4.2 % as heat energy ( modern biomass , geothermal and solar heat ) , 3.9 % hydro electricity and 2.2 % is electricity from wind , solar , geothermal , and biomass . Worldwide investments in renewable technologies amounted to more than US$ 286 billion in 2015 , with countries like China and the United States heavily investing in wind , hydro , solar and biofuels . Globally , there are an estimated 7.7 million jobs associated with the renewable energy industries , with solar photovoltaics being the largest renewable employer . As of 2015 worldwide , more than half of all new electricity capacity installed was renewable . Renewable energy resources exist over wide geographical areas , in contrast to other energy sources , which are concentrated in a limited number of countries . Rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency is resulting in significant energy security , climate change mitigation , and economic benefits . The results of a recent review of the literature concluded that as greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emitters begin to be held liable for damages resulting from GHG emissions resulting in climate change , a high value for liability mitigation would provide powerful incentives for deployment of renewable energy technologies . In international public opinion surveys there is strong support for promoting renewable sources such as solar power and wind power . At the national level , at least 30 nations around the world already have renewable energy contributing more than 20 percent of energy supply . National renewable energy markets are projected to continue to grow strongly in the coming decade and beyond . Some places and at least two countries , Iceland and Norway generate all their electricity using renewable energy already , and many other countries have the set a goal to reach 100 % renewable energy in the future . For example , in Denmark the government decided to switch the total energy supply ( electricity , mobility and heating/cooling ) to 100 % renewable energy by 2050 . While many renewable energy projects are large-scale , renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas and developing countries , where energy is often crucial in human development . United Nations ' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that renewable energy has the ability to lift the poorest nations to new levels of prosperity . As most of renewables provide electricity , renewable energy deployment is often applied in conjunction with further electrification , which has several benefits : Electricity can be converted to heat ( where necessary generating higher temperatures than fossil fuels ) , can be converted into mechanical energy with high efficiency and is clean at the point of consumption . In addition to that electrification with renewable energy is much more efficient and therefore leads to a significant reduction in primary energy requirements , because most renewables do n't have a steam cycle with high losses ( fossil power plants usually have losses of 40 to 65 % ) . Renewable energy systems are rapidly becoming more efficient and cheaper . Their share of total energy consumption is increasing . Growth in consumption of coal and oil could end by 2020 due to increased uptake of renewables and natural gas . |
250 | City | CO2 is not powerful in that sense, the only thing it does in the system is make the planet greener. | City A city is a large and permanent human settlement . Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general English language meanings , many cities have special administrative , legal , or historical status based on local law . Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation , utilities , land usage , housing , and transportation . The concentration of development greatly facilitates interaction between people and businesses , sometimes benefiting both parties in the process , but it also presents challenges to managing urban growth . A big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs . Such cities are usually associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas , creating numerous business commuters traveling to urban centers for employment . Once a city expands far enough to reach another city , this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis . Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world . In terms of population , the largest city proper is Shanghai , while the fastest-growing is Dubai . |
2302 | Instrumental_temperature_record | Since the mid 1970s, global temperatures have been warming at around 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade. | Instrumental temperature record The instrumental temperature record provides the temperature of Earth 's climate system from the historical network of in situ measurements of surface air temperatures and ocean surface temperatures . Data are collected at thousands of meteorological stations , buoys and ships around the globe . The longest-running temperature record is the Central England temperature data series , that starts in 1659 . The longest-running quasi-global record starts in 1850 . In recent decades more extensive sampling of ocean temperatures at various depths have begun allowing estimates of ocean heat content but these do not form part of the global surface temperature datasets . |
2165 | Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change | Ben Santer rewrote the 1995 IPCC report | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) is a scientific and intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations , set up at the request of member governments , dedicated to the task of providing the world with an objective , scientific view of climate change and its political and economic impacts . It was first established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations , the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) and the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) , and later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 43/53 . Membership of the IPCC is open to all members of the WMO and UNEP . The IPCC produces reports that support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , which is the main international treaty on climate change . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to `` stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic -LSB- i.e. , human-induced -RSB- interference with the climate system '' . IPCC reports cover `` the scientific , technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change , its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation . '' The IPCC does not carry out its own original research , nor does it do the work of monitoring climate or related phenomena itself . The IPCC bases its assessment on the published literature , which includes peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed sources . Thousands of scientists and other experts contribute ( on a voluntary basis , without payment from the IPCC ) to writing and reviewing reports , which are then reviewed by governments . IPCC reports contain a `` Summary for Policymakers '' , which is subject to line-by-line approval by delegates from all participating governments . Typically this involves the governments of more than 120 countries . The IPCC provides an internationally accepted authority on climate change , producing reports which have the agreement of leading climate scientists and the consensus of participating governments . The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared , in equal parts , between the IPCC and Al Gore . |
2915 | Air_pollution | "Pollution; none of us are supporting putting substances into the atmosphere or the waterways that might be pollutants, but carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. | Air pollution Air pollution occurs when harmful substances including particulates and biological molecules are introduced into Earth 's atmosphere . It may cause diseases , allergies or death in humans ; it may also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops , and may damage the natural or built environment . Human activity and natural processes can both generate air pollution . Indoor air pollution and poor urban air quality are listed as two of the world 's worst toxic pollution problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute World 's Worst Polluted Places report . According to the 2014 WHO report , air pollution in 2012 caused the deaths of around 7 million people worldwide , an estimate roughly matched by the International Energy Agency . |
1830 | Joe_Barton | Wind is a finite resource and harnessing it would slow the winds down, which would cause the temperature to go up. | Joe Barton Joe Linus Barton ( born September 15 , 1949 ) is a Republican politician , representing ( map ) in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985 , and a member of the Tea Party Caucus . The district includes Arlington , part of Fort Worth , and several small towns and rural areas south of the Dallas -- Fort Worth Metroplex . Following the 2014 primary defeat of Ralph Hall , Barton became the dean of the Texas congressional delegation . Barton came to national prominence when he instructed a citizen at a town hall meeting to `` shut up '' . In terms of his positions , Barton is skeptical that manmade carbon emissions have contributed to global warming , is a proponent of the use of fossil fuels , voted in favor of the May 4th 2017 GOP plan to replace Obamacare , supports Trump 's ban on immigration from Muslim-majority nations , and supports the death penalty for persons caught spying . |
2819 | Botany | More importantly, the OISM list only contains 39 scientists who specialise in climate science. | Botany Botany , also called plant science ( s ) , plant biology or phytology , is the science of plant life and a branch of biology . A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field . The term `` botany '' comes from the Ancient Greek word βοτάνη ( botanē ) meaning `` pasture '' , `` grass '' , or `` fodder '' ; βοτάνη is in turn derived from βόσκειν ( boskein ) , `` to feed '' or `` to graze '' . Traditionally , botany has also included the study of fungi and algae by mycologists and phycologists respectively , with the study of these three groups of organisms remaining within the sphere of interest of the International Botanical Congress . Nowadays , botanists ( in the strict sense ) study approximately 410,000 species of land plants of which some 391,000 species are vascular plants ( including ca 369,000 species of flowering plants ) , and ca 20,000 are bryophytes . Botany originated in prehistory as herbalism with the efforts of early humans to identify -- and later cultivate -- edible , medicinal and poisonous plants , making it one of the oldest branches of science . Medieval physic gardens , often attached to monasteries , contained plants of medical importance . They were forerunners of the first botanical gardens attached to universities , founded from the 1540s onwards . One of the earliest was the Padua botanical garden . These gardens facilitated the academic study of plants . Efforts to catalogue and describe their collections were the beginnings of plant taxonomy , and led in 1753 to the binomial system of Carl Linnaeus that remains in use to this day . In the 19th and 20th centuries , new techniques were developed for the study of plants , including methods of optical microscopy and live cell imaging , electron microscopy , analysis of chromosome number , plant chemistry and the structure and function of enzymes and other proteins . In the last two decades of the 20th century , botanists exploited the techniques of molecular genetic analysis , including genomics and proteomics and DNA sequences to classify plants more accurately . Modern botany is a broad , multidisciplinary subject with inputs from most other areas of science and technology . Research topics include the study of plant structure , growth and differentiation , reproduction , biochemistry and primary metabolism , chemical products , development , diseases , evolutionary relationships , systematics , and plant taxonomy . Dominant themes in 21st century plant science are molecular genetics and epigenetics , which are the mechanisms and control of gene expression during differentiation of plant cells and tissues . Botanical research has diverse applications in providing staple foods , materials such as timber , oil , rubber , fibre and drugs , in modern horticulture , agriculture and forestry , plant propagation , breeding and genetic modification , in the synthesis of chemicals and raw materials for construction and energy production , in environmental management , and the maintenance of biodiversity . |
2649 | Climatic_Research_Unit_documents | "Mike's Nature trick" has nothing to do with "hide the decline", instead refering to a technique by Michael Mann to plot instrumental temperature along with past reconstructions. | Climatic Research Unit documents Climatic Research Unit documents including thousands of e-mails and other computer files were stolen from a server at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in a hacking incident in November 2009 . The documents were redistributed first through several blogs of global warming skeptics , and allegations were made that they indicated misconduct by leading climate scientists . A series of investigations rejected these allegations , while concluding that CRU scientists should have been more open with distributing data and methods on request . Precisely six committees investigated the allegations and published reports , finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct . The scientific consensus that global warming is occurring as a result of human activity remained unchanged by the end of the investigations . The incident occurred shortly before the opening December 2009 Copenhagen global climate summit . It has prompted general discussion about increasing the openness of scientific data ( though the majority of climate data have always been freely available ) . Scientists , scientific organisations , and government officials have stated that the incident does not affect the overall scientific case for climate change . Andrew Revkin reported in the New York Times that `` The evidence pointing to a growing human contribution to global warming is so widely accepted that the hacked material is unlikely to erode the overall argument . '' |
761 | Sea | [Riebesell] is a world authority on the topic and has typically communicated cautiously about the effects of acidification. | Sea A sea is a large body of salt water that is surrounded in whole or in part by land . More broadly , `` the sea '' is the interconnected system of Earth 's salty , oceanic waters -- considered as one global ocean or as several principal oceanic divisions . The sea moderates Earth 's climate and has important roles in the water cycle , carbon cycle , and nitrogen cycle . Although the sea has been traveled and explored since prehistory , the modern scientific study of the sea -- oceanography -- dates broadly to the British Challenger expedition of the 1870s . The sea is conventionally divided into up to five large oceanic sections -- including the International Hydrographic Organization 's four named oceans ( the Atlantic , Pacific , Indian , and Arctic ) and the Southern Ocean ; smaller , second-order sections , such as the Mediterranean , are known as seas . Owing to the present state of continental drift , the Northern Hemisphere is now fairly equally divided between land and sea ( a ratio of about 2:3 ) but the South is overwhelmingly oceanic ( 1:4.7 ) . Salinity in the open ocean is generally in a narrow band around 3.5 % by mass , although this can vary in more landlocked waters , near the mouths of large rivers , or at great depths . About 85 % of the solids in the open sea are sodium chloride . Deep-sea currents are produced by differences in salinity and temperature . Surface currents are formed by the friction of waves produced by the wind and by tides , the changes in local sea level produced by the gravity of the Moon and Sun . The direction of all of these is governed by surface and submarine land masses and by the rotation of the Earth ( the Coriolis effect ) . Former changes in sea levels have left continental shelves , shallow areas in the sea close to land . These nutrient-rich waters teem with life , which provide humans with substantial supplies of food -- mainly fish , but also shellfish , mammals , and seaweed -- which are both harvested in the wild and farmed . The most diverse areas surround great tropical coral reefs . Whaling in the deep sea was once common but whales ' dwindling numbers prompted international conservation efforts and finally a moratorium on most commercial hunting . Oceanography has established that not all life is restricted to the sunlit surface waters : even under enormous depths and pressures , nutrients streaming from hydrothermal vents support their own unique ecosystem . Life may have started there and aquatic microbial mats are generally credited with the oxygenation of Earth 's atmosphere ; both plants and animals first evolved in the sea . The sea is an essential aspect of human trade , travel , mineral extraction , and power generation . This has also made it essential to warfare and left major cities exposed to earthquakes and volcanoes from nearby faults ; powerful tsunami waves ; and hurricanes , typhoons , and cyclones produced in the tropics . This importance and duality has affected human culture , from early sea gods to the epic poetry of Homer to the changes induced by the Columbian Exchange , from burial at sea to Basho 's haikus to hyperrealist marine art , and inspiring music ranging from the shanties in The Complaynt of Scotland to Rimsky-Korsakov 's `` The Sea and Sinbad 's Ship '' to A-mei 's `` Listen to the Sea '' . It is the scene of leisure activities including swimming , diving , surfing , and sailing . However , population growth , industrialization , and intensive farming have all contributed to present-day marine pollution . Atmospheric carbon dioxide is being absorbed in increasing amounts , lowering its pH in a process known as ocean acidification . The shared nature of the sea has made overfishing an increasing problem . |
1017 | Climate_change_mitigation | Our children and grandchildren will look back on the climate deniers and ask how they could have sacrificed the planet for the sake of cheap fossil fuel energy, when the cost of inaction exceeds the cost of a transition to a low-carbon economy,' Watson said. | Climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation consists of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change . Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human ( anthropogenic ) emissions of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) . Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks , e.g. , through reforestation . Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-induced global warming . According to the IPCC 's 2014 assessment report , `` Mitigation is a public good ; climate change is a case of the ` tragedy of the commons . Effective climate change mitigation will not be achieved if each agent ( individual , institution or country ) acts independently in its own selfish interest ( see international cooperation and emissions trading ) , suggesting the need for collective action . Some adaptation actions , on the other hand , have characteristics of a private good as benefits of actions may accrue more directly to the individuals , regions , or countries that undertake them , at least in the short term . Nevertheless , financing such adaptive activities remains an issue , particularly for poor individuals and countries . '' Examples of mitigation include phasing out fossil fuels by switching to low-carbon energy sources , such as renewable and nuclear energy , and expanding forests and other `` sinks '' to remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . Energy efficiency may also play a role , for example , through improving the insulation of buildings . Another approach to climate change mitigation is climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference of the climate system . Scientific analysis can provide information on the impacts of climate change , but deciding which impacts are dangerous requires value judgments . In 2010 , Parties to the UNFCCC agreed that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 ° C ( 3.6 ° F ) relative to the pre-industrial level . With the Paris Agreement of 2015 this was confirmed , but was revised with a new target laying down `` parties will do the best '' to achieve warming below 1.5 ° C . The current trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions does not appear to be consistent with limiting global warming to below 1.5 or 2 ° C . Other mitigation policies have been proposed , some of which are more stringent or modest than the 2 ° C limit . |
2835 | Arctic_Ocean | Arctic summer sea ice has shrunk by an area equal to Western Australia, and might be all gone in a decade. | Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world 's five major oceans . The International Hydrographic Organization ( IHO ) recognizes it as an ocean , although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea , classifying it a mediterranean sea or an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean . Alternatively , the Arctic Ocean can be seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing World Ocean . Located mostly in the Arctic north polar region in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere , the Arctic Ocean is almost completely surrounded by Eurasia and North America . It is partly covered by sea ice throughout the year and almost completely in winter . The Arctic Ocean 's surface temperature and salinity vary seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes ; its salinity is the lowest on average of the five major oceans , due to low evaporation , heavy fresh water inflow from rivers and streams , and limited connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic waters with higher salinities . The summer shrinking of the ice has been quoted at 50 % . The US National Snow and Ice Data Center ( NSIDC ) uses satellite data to provide a daily record of Arctic sea ice cover and the rate of melting compared to an average period and specific past years . |
2101 | Cloud_feedback | Clouds provide negative feedback | Cloud feedback Cloud feedback is the coupling between cloudiness and surface air temperature where a surface air temperature change leads to a change in clouds , which could then amplify or diminish the initial temperature perturbation . Cloud feedbacks can affect the magnitude of internally generated climate variability or they can affect the magnitude of climate change resulting from external radiative forcings . Global warming is expected to change the distribution and type of clouds . Seen from below , clouds emit infrared radiation back to the surface , and so exert a warming effect ; seen from above , clouds reflect sunlight and emit infrared radiation to space , and so exert a cooling effect . Cloud representations vary among global climate models , and small changes in cloud cover have a large impact on the climate . Differences in planetary boundary layer cloud modeling schemes can lead to large differences in derived values of climate sensitivity . A model that decreases boundary layer clouds in response to global warming has a climate sensitivity twice that of a model that does not include this feedback . However , satellite data show that cloud optical thickness actually increases with increasing temperature . Whether the net effect is warming or cooling depends on details such as the type and altitude of the cloud ; details that are difficult to represent in climate models . |
2901 | Data_visualization | Though CRU neglected to provide an exact list of temperature stations, it could not have hid or tampered with data. | Data visualization Data visualization or data visualisation is viewed by many disciplines as a modern equivalent of visual communication . It involves the creation and study of the visual representation of data , meaning `` information that has been abstracted in some schematic form , including attributes or variables for the units of information '' . A primary goal of data visualization is to communicate information clearly and efficiently via statistical graphics , plots and information graphics . Numerical data may be encoded using dots , lines , or bars , to visually communicate a quantitative message . Effective visualization helps users analyze and reason about data and evidence . It makes complex data more accessible , understandable and usable . Users may have particular analytical tasks , such as making comparisons or understanding causality , and the design principle of the graphic ( i.e. , showing comparisons or showing causality ) follows the task . Tables are generally used where users will look up a specific measurement , while charts of various types are used to show patterns or relationships in the data for one or more variables . Data visualization is both an art and a science . It is viewed as a branch of descriptive statistics by some , but also as a grounded theory development tool by others . Increased amounts of data created by Internet activity and an expanding number of sensors in the environment are referred to as `` big data '' or Internet of things . Processing , analyzing and communicating this data present ethical and analytical challenges for data visualization . The field of data science and practitioners called data scientists help address this challenge . |
1579 | Triassic–Jurassic_extinction_event | A drop in volcanic activity caused warming. | Triassic–Jurassic extinction event The Triassic -- Jurassic extinction event marks the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic periods , , and is one of the major extinction events of the Phanerozoic eon , profoundly affecting life on land and in the oceans . In the seas , a whole class ( conodonts ) and 34 % of marine genera disappeared . On land , all archosaurs other than crocodylomorphs ( Sphenosuchia and Crocodyliformes ) and Avemetatarsalia ( pterosaurs and dinosaurs ) , some remaining therapsids , and many of the large amphibians became extinct . |
548 | Cyclone | The jet stream controls broad weather patterns, such as high-pressure and low-pressure systems. | Cyclone In meteorology , a cyclone is a large scale air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure . Cyclones are characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate about a zone of low pressure . The largest low-pressure systems are polar vortices and extratropical cyclones of the largest scale ( the synoptic scale ) . Warm-core cyclones such as tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones also lie within the synoptic scale . Mesocyclones , tornadoes and dust devils lie within the smaller mesoscale . Upper level cyclones can exist without the presence of a surface low , and can pinch off from the base of the Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trough during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere . Cyclones have also been seen on extraterrestrial planets , such as Mars and Neptune . Cyclogenesis describes the process of cyclone formation and intensification . Extratropical cyclones begin as waves in large regions of enhanced mid-latitude temperature contrasts called baroclinic zones . These zones contract and form weather fronts as the cyclonic circulation closes and intensifies . Later in their life cycle , extratropical cyclones occlude as cold air masses undercut the warmer air and become cold core systems . A cyclone 's track is guided over the course of its 2 to 6 day life cycle by the steering flow of the subtropical jet stream . Weather fronts mark the boundary between two masses of air of different temperature , humidity , and densities , and are associated with the most prominent meteorological phenomena . Strong cold fronts typically feature narrow bands of thunderstorms and severe weather , and may on occasion be preceded by squall lines or dry lines . Such fronts form west of the circulation center and generally move from west to east ; warm fronts form east of the cyclone center and are usually preceded by stratiform precipitation and fog . Warm fronts move poleward ahead of the cyclone path . Occluded fronts form late in the cyclone life cycle near the center of the cyclone and often wrap around the storm center . Tropical cyclogenesis describes the process of development of tropical cyclones . Tropical cyclones form due to latent heat driven by significant thunderstorm activity , and are warm core . Cyclones can transition between extratropical , subtropical , and tropical phases . Mesocyclones form as warm core cyclones over land , and can lead to tornado formation . Waterspouts can also form from mesocyclones , but more often develop from environments of high instability and low vertical wind shear . In the Atlantic and the northeastern Pacific oceans , a tropical cyclone is generally referred to as a hurricane ( from the name of the ancient Central American deity of wind , Huracan ) , in the Indian and south Pacific oceans it is called a cyclone , and in the northwestern Pacific it is called a typhoon . |
214 | Thomas_Kuhn | A recent essay in Scientific American argued that scientists "tend to underestimate the severity of threats and the rapidity with which they might unfold" and said one of the reasons was "the perceived need for consensus." | Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn ( -LSB- ˈkuːn -RSB- July 18 , 1922 -- June 17 , 1996 ) was an American physicist , historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was influential in both academic and popular circles , introducing the term paradigm shift , which has since become an English-language idiom . Kuhn made several notable claims concerning the progress of scientific knowledge : that scientific fields undergo periodic `` paradigm shifts '' rather than solely progressing in a linear and continuous way , and that these paradigm shifts open up new approaches to understanding what scientists would never have considered valid before ; and that the notion of scientific truth , at any given moment , can not be established solely by objective criteria but is defined by a consensus of a scientific community . Competing paradigms are frequently incommensurable ; that is , they are competing and irreconcilable accounts of reality . Thus , our comprehension of science can never rely wholly upon `` objectivity '' alone . Science must account for subjective perspectives as well , since all objective conclusions are ultimately founded upon the subjective conditioning/worldview of its researchers and participants . |
1397 | Effects_of_global_warming_on_human_health | alarmists here are taking overwhelmingly good news about global warming improving plant health and making it seem like this good news is actually bad news because healthier plants mean more pollen. | Effects of global warming on human health The effects of global warming include effects on human health . The observed and projected increased frequency and severity of climate related impacts will further exacerbate the effects on human health . This article describes some of those effects on individuals and populations . |
1084 | Greenhouse_gas | [Jonathan Overpeck:] 'No doubt about it anymore — humans, mainly by burning fossil fuels, are cooking the planet,' Overpeck said. | Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas ( abbrev . GHG ) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range . This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect . The primary greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere are water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , and ozone . Without greenhouse gases , the average temperature of Earth 's surface would be about -18 ° C , rather than the present average of 15 ° C . In the Solar System , the atmospheres of Venus , Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect . Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution ( taken as the year 1750 ) have produced a 40 % increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide , from 280 ppm in 1750 to 406 ppm in early 2017 . This increase has occurred despite the uptake of a large portion of the emissions by various natural `` sinks '' involved in the carbon cycle . Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ( i.e. , emissions produced by human activities ) come from combustion of fossil fuels , principally coal , oil , and natural gas , along with deforestation , soil erosion and animal agriculture . It has been estimated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate , Earth 's surface temperature could exceed historical values as early as 2047 , with potentially harmful effects on ecosystems , biodiversity and the livelihoods of people worldwide . Recent estimates suggest that on the current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 ° C global warming , which the United Nations ' IPCC designated as the upper limit to avoid `` dangerous '' global warming , by 2036 . |
1931 | New_Jersey | New Jersey is "losing 50 football fields of open space to development every day and the more we develop upstream the more flooding we have downstream." | New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States . It is bordered on the north and east by New York , on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean , on the west by Pennsylvania , and on the southwest by Delaware . New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States . New Jersey lies entirely within the combined statistical areas of New York City and Philadelphia and is the second-wealthiest U.S. state by per capita income as of 2014 . New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years , with historical tribes such as the Lenape along the coast . In the early 17th century , the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements . The English later seized control of the region , naming it the Province of New Jersey after the largest of the Channel Islands , Jersey , and granting it as a colony to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley , 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton . New Jersey was the site of several decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century . In the 19th century , factories in cities such as Camden , Paterson , Newark , Trenton , and Elizabeth helped to drive the Industrial Revolution . New Jersey 's geographic location at the center of the Northeast megalopolis , between Boston and New York City to the northeast , and Philadelphia , Baltimore , and Washington , D.C. , to the southwest , fueled its rapid growth through the process of suburbanization in the second half of the 20th century . In the first decades of the 21st century , this suburbanization began reverting to consolidation of New Jersey 's culturally diverse populace toward more urban settings within the state , with towns home to commuter rail stations outpacing the population growth of more automobile-oriented suburbs since 2008 . |
1166 | Droughts_in_the_United_States | Drought in the western U.S. pales in comparison to the mega-droughts tree rings tell us existed in centuries past. | Droughts in the United States Drought in the United States is similar to that of other portions of the globe . Below normal precipitation leads to drought , which is caused by an above average persistence of high pressure over the drought area . Changes in the track of extratropical cyclones , which can occur during climate cycles such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation , or ENSO , as well as the North Atlantic Oscillation , Pacific Decadal Oscillation , and Atlantic multidecadal oscillation , modulates which areas would be more prone to drought and when drought develops . Increased drought frequency is expected to be one of the effects of global warming . In dry areas , removing grass cover and going with a more natural vegetation for the area can reduce the impact of drought , since a significant amount of fresh water is used to keep lawns green . Droughts are periodic , alternating with floods over a series of years . The worst droughts in the history of the United States occurred during the 1930s and 1950s , periods of time known as ` Dust Bowl ' years in which droughts lead to significant economic damages and social changes . In particular , relief and health agencies became overburdened and many local community banks had to close . |
2903 | Cross-validation_(statistics) | The interesting point is that it also seems each time they come across a new dataset it is simply replaced. | Cross-validation (statistics) Cross-validation , sometimes called rotation estimation , is a model validation technique for assessing how the results of a statistical analysis will generalize to an independent data set . It is mainly used in settings where the goal is prediction , and one wants to estimate how accurately a predictive model will perform in practice . In a prediction problem , a model is usually given a dataset of known data on which training is run ( training dataset ) , and a dataset of unknown data ( or first seen data ) against which the model is tested ( testing dataset ) . The goal of cross validation is to define a dataset to `` test '' the model in the training phase ( i.e. , the validation dataset ) , in order to limit problems like overfitting , give an insight on how the model will generalize to an independent dataset ( i.e. , an unknown dataset , for instance from a real problem ) , etc. . One round of cross-validation involves partitioning a sample of data into complementary subsets , performing the analysis on one subset ( called the training set ) , and validating the analysis on the other subset ( called the validation set or testing set ) . To reduce variability , multiple rounds of cross-validation are performed using different partitions , and the validation results are averaged over the rounds . One of the main reasons for using cross-validation instead of using the conventional validation ( e.g. partitioning the data set into two sets of 70 % for training and 30 % for test ) is that there is not enough data available to partition it into separate training and test sets without losing significant modelling or testing capability . In these cases , a fair way to properly estimate model prediction performance is to use cross-validation as a powerful general technique . In summary , cross-validation combines ( averages ) measures of fit ( prediction error ) to derive a more accurate estimate of model prediction performance . |
1909 | Sea_level_rise | In South Florida, "we've had nine inches of sea-level rise since the 1920s." | Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly . Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. . Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century . Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems . |
3103 | Climate_change_mitigation | "Disasters Cost More Than Ever — But Not Because of Climate Change" (Roger Pielke Jr.) | Climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation consists of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change . Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human ( anthropogenic ) emissions of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) . Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks , e.g. , through reforestation . Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-induced global warming . According to the IPCC 's 2014 assessment report , `` Mitigation is a public good ; climate change is a case of the ` tragedy of the commons . Effective climate change mitigation will not be achieved if each agent ( individual , institution or country ) acts independently in its own selfish interest ( see international cooperation and emissions trading ) , suggesting the need for collective action . Some adaptation actions , on the other hand , have characteristics of a private good as benefits of actions may accrue more directly to the individuals , regions , or countries that undertake them , at least in the short term . Nevertheless , financing such adaptive activities remains an issue , particularly for poor individuals and countries . '' Examples of mitigation include phasing out fossil fuels by switching to low-carbon energy sources , such as renewable and nuclear energy , and expanding forests and other `` sinks '' to remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . Energy efficiency may also play a role , for example , through improving the insulation of buildings . Another approach to climate change mitigation is climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) . The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference of the climate system . Scientific analysis can provide information on the impacts of climate change , but deciding which impacts are dangerous requires value judgments . In 2010 , Parties to the UNFCCC agreed that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 ° C ( 3.6 ° F ) relative to the pre-industrial level . With the Paris Agreement of 2015 this was confirmed , but was revised with a new target laying down `` parties will do the best '' to achieve warming below 1.5 ° C . The current trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions does not appear to be consistent with limiting global warming to below 1.5 or 2 ° C . Other mitigation policies have been proposed , some of which are more stringent or modest than the 2 ° C limit . |
2244 | Climate_change_feedback | So CO2 causes warming AND rising temperature causes CO2 rise. | Climate change feedback Climate change feedback is important in the understanding of global warming because feedback processes may amplify or diminish the effect of each climate forcing , and so play an important part in determining the climate sensitivity and future climate state . Feedback in general is the process in which changing one quantity changes a second quantity , and the change in the second quantity in turn changes the first . Positive feedback amplifies the change in the first quantity while negative feedback reduces it . The term `` forcing '' means a change which may `` push '' the climate system in the direction of warming or cooling . An example of a climate forcing is increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases . By definition , forcings are external to the climate system while feedbacks are internal ; in essence , feedbacks represent the internal processes of the system . Some feedbacks may act in relative isolation to the rest of the climate system ; others may be tightly coupled ; hence it may be difficult to tell just how much a particular process contributes . Forcings , feedbacks and the dynamics of the climate system determine how much and how fast the climate changes . The main positive feedback in global warming is the tendency of warming to increase the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere , which in turn leads to further warming . The main negative feedback comes from the Stefan -- Boltzmann law , the amount of heat radiated from the Earth into space changes with the fourth power of the temperature of Earth 's surface and atmosphere . Some observed and potential effects of global warming are positive feedbacks , which contribute directly to further global warming . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 's ( IPCC ) Fourth Assessment Report states that `` Anthropogenic warming could lead to some effects that are abrupt or irreversible , depending upon the rate and magnitude of the climate change . '' |
240 | Global_warming | In 1990 the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that temperatures would rise by 0.54F (0.3C) per decade. | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
1717 | 2009_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference | If every nation agrees to limit CO2 emissions, we can achieve significant cuts on a global scale. | 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference , commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit , was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen , Denmark , between 7 and 18 December . The conference included the 15th Conference of the Parties ( COP 15 ) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) and the 5th Meeting of the Parties ( MOP 5 ) to the Kyoto Protocol . According to the Bali Road Map , a framework for climate change mitigation beyond 2012 was to be agreed there . On Friday 18 December , the final day of the conference , international media reported that the climate talks were `` in disarray '' . Media also reported that in lieu of a summit collapse , only a `` weak political statement '' was anticipated at the conclusion of the conference . The Copenhagen Accord was drafted by the United States , China , India , Brazil and South Africa on 18 December , and judged a `` meaningful agreement '' by the United States government . It was `` taken note of '' , but not `` adopted '' , in a debate of all the participating countries the next day , and it was not passed unanimously . The document recognised that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the present day and that actions should be taken to keep any temperature increases to below 2 ° C . The document is not legally binding and does not contain any legally binding commitments for reducing emissions . In January 2014 , documents leaked by Edward Snowden and published by Dagbladet Information revealed that the US government negotiators were in receipt of information during the conference that was being obtained by spying against other conference delegations . The US National Security Agency provided US delegates with advance details other delegations ' positions , including the Danish plan to `` rescue '' the talks should they flounder . Members of the Danish negotiating team said that both the US and Chinese delegations were `` peculiarly well-informed '' about closed-door discussions : `` They simply sat back , just as we had feared they would if they knew about our document . '' |
1253 | Sea_level_rise | "The most recent prediction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is that seas will rise by 60 to 90 centimetres this century. | Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly . Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. . Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century . Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems . |
139 | Climate_change,_industry_and_society | And in January, one out of five British children told pollsters they were having nightmares about climate change. | Climate change, industry and society This article is about climate change , industry and society . |
508 | Earth | Climate projections also assume that planet Earth is not dynamic | Earth Earth ( from Eorðe -LSB- Γαῖα , Gaia -RSB- Terra ) , otherwise known as the World or the Globe , is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life . It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets . According to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence , Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago . Earth 's gravity interacts with other objects in space , especially the Sun and the Moon , Earth 's only natural satellite . During one orbit around the Sun , Earth rotates about its axis over 365 times ; thus , an Earth year is about 365.26 days long . Earth 's axis of rotation is tilted , producing seasonal variations on the planet 's surface . The gravitational interaction between the Earth and Moon causes ocean tides , stabilizes the Earth 's orientation on its axis , and gradually slows its rotation . Earth 's lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years . About 71 % of Earth 's surface is covered with water , mostly by its oceans . The remaining 29 % is land consisting of continents and islands that together have many lakes , rivers and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere . The majority of Earth 's polar regions are covered in ice , including the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of the Arctic ice pack . Earth 's interior remains active with a solid iron inner core , a liquid outer core that generates the Earth 's magnetic field , and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics . Within the first billion years of Earth 's history , life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earth 's atmosphere and surface , leading to the proliferation of aerobic and anaerobic organisms . Some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as much as 4.1 billion years ago . Since then , the combination of Earth 's distance from the Sun , physical properties , and geological history have allowed life to evolve and thrive . In the history of the Earth , biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion , occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events . Over 99 % of all species that ever lived on Earth are extinct . Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely ; most species have not been described . Over 7.4 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival . Humans have developed diverse societies and cultures ; politically , the world has about 200 sovereign states . |
1155 | Greenhouse_gas | But observations, such as those on our CO2 Coalition website, show that increased CO2 levels over the next century will cause modest and beneficial warming—perhaps as much as one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) | Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas ( abbrev . GHG ) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range . This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect . The primary greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere are water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , and ozone . Without greenhouse gases , the average temperature of Earth 's surface would be about -18 ° C , rather than the present average of 15 ° C . In the Solar System , the atmospheres of Venus , Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect . Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution ( taken as the year 1750 ) have produced a 40 % increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide , from 280 ppm in 1750 to 406 ppm in early 2017 . This increase has occurred despite the uptake of a large portion of the emissions by various natural `` sinks '' involved in the carbon cycle . Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ( i.e. , emissions produced by human activities ) come from combustion of fossil fuels , principally coal , oil , and natural gas , along with deforestation , soil erosion and animal agriculture . It has been estimated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate , Earth 's surface temperature could exceed historical values as early as 2047 , with potentially harmful effects on ecosystems , biodiversity and the livelihoods of people worldwide . Recent estimates suggest that on the current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 ° C global warming , which the United Nations ' IPCC designated as the upper limit to avoid `` dangerous '' global warming , by 2036 . |
9 | Atmosphere_of_Mars | Ironic' study finds more CO2 has slightly cooled the planet | Atmosphere of Mars The atmosphere of Mars is the layer of gases surrounding Mars . It is composed mostly of carbon dioxide . The atmospheric pressure on the Martian surface averages 600 Pa , about 0.6 % of Earth 's mean sea level pressure of 101.3 kPa . It ranges from a low of 30 Pa on Olympus Mons 's peak to over 1155 Pa in the depths of Hellas Planitia . This pressure is well below the Armstrong limit for the unprotected human body . Mars 's atmospheric mass of 25 teratonnes compares to Earth 's 5148 teratonnes with a scale height of about 11 km versus Earth 's 7 km . The Martian atmosphere consists of approximately 96 % carbon dioxide , 1.9 % argon , 1.9 % nitrogen , and traces of free oxygen , carbon monoxide , water and methane , among other gases , for a mean molar mass of 43.34 g/mol . There has been renewed interest in its composition since the detection of traces of methane in 2003 that may indicate life but may also be produced by a geochemical process , volcanic or hydrothermal activity . The atmosphere is quite dusty , giving the Martian sky a light brown or orange-red color when seen from the surface ; data from the Mars Exploration Rovers indicate suspended particles of roughly 1.5 micrometres in diameter . On 16 December 2014 , NASA reported detecting an unusual increase , then decrease , in the amounts of methane in the atmosphere of the planet Mars . Organic chemicals have been detected in powder drilled from a rock by the Curiosity rover . Based on deuterium to hydrogen ratio studies , much of the water at Gale Crater on Mars was found to have been lost during ancient times , before the lakebed in the crater was formed ; afterwards , large amounts of water continued to be lost . On 18 March 2015 , NASA reported the detection of an aurora that is not fully understood and an unexplained dust cloud in the atmosphere of Mars . On 4 April 2015 , NASA reported studies , based on measurements by the Sample Analysis at Mars ( SAM ) instrument on the Curiosity rover , of the Martian atmosphere using xenon and argon isotopes . Results provided support for a `` vigorous '' loss of atmosphere early in the history of Mars and were consistent with an atmospheric signature found in bits of atmosphere captured in some Martian meteorites found on Earth . This was further supported by results from the MAVEN orbiter circling Mars , that the solar wind is responsible for stripping away the atmosphere of Mars over the years . |
1946 | 2009_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference | President Obama's proposal calls for serious cuts in our own long-term carbon emissions, but China and India will still be allowed to increase their emissions. | 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference , commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit , was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen , Denmark , between 7 and 18 December . The conference included the 15th Conference of the Parties ( COP 15 ) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) and the 5th Meeting of the Parties ( MOP 5 ) to the Kyoto Protocol . According to the Bali Road Map , a framework for climate change mitigation beyond 2012 was to be agreed there . On Friday 18 December , the final day of the conference , international media reported that the climate talks were `` in disarray '' . Media also reported that in lieu of a summit collapse , only a `` weak political statement '' was anticipated at the conclusion of the conference . The Copenhagen Accord was drafted by the United States , China , India , Brazil and South Africa on 18 December , and judged a `` meaningful agreement '' by the United States government . It was `` taken note of '' , but not `` adopted '' , in a debate of all the participating countries the next day , and it was not passed unanimously . The document recognised that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the present day and that actions should be taken to keep any temperature increases to below 2 ° C . The document is not legally binding and does not contain any legally binding commitments for reducing emissions . In January 2014 , documents leaked by Edward Snowden and published by Dagbladet Information revealed that the US government negotiators were in receipt of information during the conference that was being obtained by spying against other conference delegations . The US National Security Agency provided US delegates with advance details other delegations ' positions , including the Danish plan to `` rescue '' the talks should they flounder . Members of the Danish negotiating team said that both the US and Chinese delegations were `` peculiarly well-informed '' about closed-door discussions : `` They simply sat back , just as we had feared they would if they knew about our document . '' |
1776 | Global_warming_controversy | If anyone claims to be part of the 97 percent, it means they disagree with the contrarian argument that humans are having a minimal impact on global warming. | Global warming controversy The global warming controversy concerns the public debate over whether global warming is occurring , how much has occurred in modern times , what has caused it , what its effects will be , whether any action should be taken to curb it , and if so what that action should be . In the scientific literature , there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases . No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view , though a few organizations with members in extractive industries hold non-committal positions . Disputes over the key scientific facts of global warming are more prevalent in the media than in the scientific literature , where such issues are treated as resolved , and such disputes are more prevalent in the United States than globally . Political and popular debate concerning the existence and cause of climate change includes the reasons for the increase seen in the instrumental temperature record , whether the warming trend exceeds normal climatic variations , and whether human activities have contributed significantly to it . Scientists have resolved these questions decisively in favour of the view that the current warming trend exists and is ongoing , that human activity is the cause , and that it is without precedent in at least 2000 years . Public disputes that also reflect scientific debate include estimates of how responsive the climate system might be to any given level of greenhouse gases ( climate sensitivity ) , how global climate change will play out at local and regional scales , and what the consequences of global warming will be . Global warming remains an issue of widespread political debate , often split along party political lines , especially in the United States . Many of the issues that are settled within the scientific community , such as human responsibility for global warming , remain the subject of politically or economically motivated attempts to downplay , dismiss or deny them -- an ideological phenomenon categorised by academics and scientists as climate change denial . The sources of funding for those involved with climate science -- both supporting and opposing mainstream scientific positions -- have been questioned by both sides . There are debates about the best policy responses to the science , their cost-effectiveness and their urgency . Climate scientists , especially in the United States , have reported official and oil-industry pressure to censor or suppress their work and hide scientific data , with directives not to discuss the subject in public communications . Legal cases regarding global warming , its effects , and measures to reduce it have reached American courts . The fossil fuels lobby has been identified as overtly or covertly supporting efforts to undermine or discredit the scientific consensus on global warming . |
2746 | Photovoltaics | Dropped weather stations actually show a slightly warmer trend compared to kept stations. | Photovoltaics Photovoltaics ( PV ) is a term which covers the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect , a phenomenon studied in physics , photochemistry , and electrochemistry . A typical photovoltaic system employs solar panels , each comprising a number of solar cells , which generate electrical power . PV installations may be ground-mounted , rooftop mounted or wall mounted . The mount may be fixed , or use a solar tracker to follow the sun across the sky . Solar PV has specific advantages as an energy source : its operation generates no pollution and no greenhouse gas emissions once installed , it shows simple scalability in respect of power needs and silicon has large availability in the Earth 's crust . PV systems have the major disadvantage that the power output is dependent on direct sunlight , so about 10-25 % is lost if a tracking system is not used , since the cell will not be directly facing the sun at all times . Dust , clouds , and other things in the atmosphere also diminish the power output . Another main issue is the concentration of the production in the hours corresponding to main insolation , which do n't usually match the peaks in demand in human activity cycles . Unless current societal patterns of consumption and electrical networks mutually adjust to this scenario , electricity still needs to be made up by other power sources , usually hydrocarbon . Photovoltaic systems have long been used in specialized applications , and standalone and grid-connected PV systems have been in use since the 1990s . They were first mass-produced in 2000 , when German environmentalists and the Eurosolar organization got government funding for a ten thousand roof program . Advances in technology and increased manufacturing scale have in any case reduced the cost , increased the reliability , and increased the efficiency of photovoltaic installations . Net metering and financial incentives , such as preferential feed-in tariffs for solar-generated electricity , have supported solar PV installations in many countries . More than 100 countries now use solar PV . After hydro and wind powers , PV is the third renewable energy source in terms of globally capacity . In 2014 , worldwide installed PV capacity increased to 177 gigawatts ( GW ) , which is two percent of global electricity demand . China , followed by Japan and the United States , is the fastest growing market , while Germany remains the world 's largest producer , with solar PV providing seven percent of annual domestic electricity consumption . With current technology ( as of 2013 ) , photovoltaics recoups the energy needed to manufacture them in 1.5 years in Southern Europe and 2.5 years in Northern Europe . |
1255 | Global_warming | the first scientists to show that the thick icecap that once covered the Arctic ocean was beginning to thin and shrink. | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
2577 | Global_warming | "Three recent articles give us reason to question the alarmists' claims that coral reefs are in deep trouble due to the buildup of greenhouse gases." (World Climate Report) | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
319 | Monsoon_of_South_Asia | Most of the atmospheric moisture originates in the tropical ocean, and the difference between surface and upper atmospheric temperature determines how much of the moisture rises into the atmosphere. | Monsoon of South Asia The monsoon of South Asia is among several geographically distributed global monsoons . It affects the Indian subcontinent , where it is one of the oldest and most anticipated weather phenomena and an economically important pattern every year from June through September . Yet it is only partly understood and notoriously difficult to predict . Several theories have been proposed to explain the origin , process , strength , variability , distribution , and general vagaries of the monsoon , but understanding and predictability are still evolving . The unique geographical features of the Indian subcontinent , along with associated atmospheric , oceanic , and geophysical factors , influence the behavior of the monsoon . Because of its effect on agriculture , on flora and fauna , and on the climates of nations such as Nepal , India , Bangladesh , Bhutan , Pakistan , and Sri Lanka -- among other economic , social , and environmental effects -- the monsoon is one of the most anticipated , tracked , and studied weather phenomena in the region . It has a significant effect on the overall well-being of residents and has even been dubbed the `` real finance minister of India . '' |
2843 | Physical_impacts_of_climate_change | Together, these two unaltered [sea level] datasets indicate that global mean sea level trend has remained stable over the entire period 1992-2007, altogether eliminating the apparent 3.2 mm/year rate of sea-level rise arising from the "adjusted" data. | Physical impacts of climate change This article is about the physical impacts of climate change . For some of these physical impacts , their effect on social and economic systems are also described . This article refers to reports produced by the IPCC . In their usage , `` climate change '' refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties , and that persists for extended periods , typically decades or longer ( IPCC , 2007d :30 ) . The climate change referred to may be due to natural causes and/or the result of human activity . |
2584 | Atmosphere_of_Earth | Once the atmosphere reaches a saturation point, additional input of CO2 will not really have any major impact. | Atmosphere of Earth The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases , commonly known as air , that surrounds the planet Earth and is retained by Earth 's gravity . The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation , warming the surface through heat retention ( greenhouse effect ) , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night ( the diurnal temperature variation ) . By volume , dry air contains 78.09 % nitrogen , 20.95 % oxygen , 0.93 % argon , 0.04 % carbon dioxide , and small amounts of other gases . Air also contains a variable amount of water vapor , on average around 1 % at sea level , and 0.4 % over the entire atmosphere . Air content and atmospheric pressure vary at different layers , and air suitable for use in photosynthesis by terrestrial plants and breathing of terrestrial animals is found only in Earth 's troposphere and in artificial atmospheres . The atmosphere has a mass of about 5.15 kg , three quarters of which is within about 11 km of the surface . The atmosphere becomes thinner and thinner with increasing altitude , with no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space . The Kármán line , at 100 km , or 1.57 % of Earth 's radius , is often used as the border between the atmosphere and outer space . Atmospheric effects become noticeable during atmospheric reentry of spacecraft at an altitude of around 120 km . Several layers can be distinguished in the atmosphere , based on characteristics such as temperature and composition . The study of Earth 's atmosphere and its processes is called atmospheric science ( aerology ) . Early pioneers in the field include Léon Teisserenc de Bort and Richard Assmann . |
2184 | Miocene | We have had ice ages and warmer periods when alligators were found in Spitzbergen. | Miocene The Miocene ( -LSB- pronˈmaɪəˌsiːn -RSB- ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about ( Ma ) . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell . Its name comes from the Greek words μείων ( meiōn , `` less '' ) and καινός ( kainos , `` new '' ) and means `` less recent '' because it has 18 % fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene . The Miocene follows the Oligocene Epoch and is followed by the Pliocene Epoch . The earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene , with the climate slowly cooling towards a series of ice ages . The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event but consist rather of regional boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene Epoch . The apes arose and diversified during the Miocene , becoming widespread in the Old World . By the end of this epoch , the ancestors of humans had split away from the ancestors of the chimpanzees to follow their own evolutionary path . As in the Oligocene before it , grasslands continued to expand and forests to dwindle in extent . In the Miocene seas , kelp forests made their first appearance and soon became one of Earth 's most productive ecosystems . The plants and animals of the Miocene were fairly modern . Mammals and birds were well-established . Whales , seals , and kelp spread . The Miocene is of particular interest to geologists and palaeoclimatologists as major phases of the Himalayan orogeny had occurred during the Miocene , affecting monsoonal patterns in Asia , which were interlinked with glaciations in the northern hemisphere . |
2330 | Sea_ice | Arctic sea ice has been retreating over the past 30 years. | Sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes . Because ice is less dense than water , it floats on the ocean 's surface ( as does fresh water ice , which has an even lower density ) . Sea ice covers about 7 % of the Earth 's surface and about 12 % of the world 's oceans . Much of the world 's sea ice is enclosed within the polar ice packs in the Earth 's polar regions : the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean . Polar packs undergo a significant yearly cycling in surface extent , a natural process upon which depends the Arctic ecology , including the ocean 's ecosystems . Due to the action of winds , currents and temperature fluctuations , sea ice is very dynamic , leading to a wide variety of ice types and features . Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs , which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean . Depending on location , sea ice expanses may also incorporate icebergs . |
101 | Hockey_stick_controversy | Neither the rate nor the magnitude of the reported late twentieth century surface warming (1979–2000) lay outside normal natural variability. | Hockey stick controversy In the hockey stick controversy , the data and methods used in reconstructions of the temperature record of the past 1000 years have been disputed . Reconstructions have consistently shown that the rise in the instrumental temperature record of the past 150 years is not matched in earlier centuries , and the name `` hockey stick graph '' was coined for figures showing a long-term decline followed by an abrupt rise in temperatures . These graphs were publicised to explain the scientific findings of climatology , and in addition to scientific debate over the reconstructions , they have been the topic of political dispute . The issue is part of the global warming controversy and has been one focus of political responses to reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) . Arguments over the reconstructions have been taken up by fossil fuel industry funded lobbying groups attempting to cast doubt on climate science . The use of proxy indicators to get quantitative estimates of the temperature record of past centuries was developed from the 1990s onwards , and found indications that recent warming was exceptional . The reconstruction introduced the `` Composite Plus Scaling '' ( CPS ) method used by most later large-scale reconstructions , and its findings were disputed by Patrick Michaels at the United States House Committee on Science . In 1998 , Michael E. Mann , Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes developed new statistical techniques to produce ( MBH98 ) , the first eigenvector-based climate field reconstruction ( CFR ) . This showed global patterns of annual surface temperature , and included a graph of average hemispheric temperatures back to 1400 . In ( MBH99 ) the methodology was extended back to 1000 . The term hockey stick was coined by the climatologist Jerry D. Mahlman , to describe the pattern this showed , envisaging a graph that is relatively flat to 1900 as forming an ice hockey stick 's `` shaft '' , followed by a sharp increase corresponding to the `` blade '' . A version of this graph was featured prominently in the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report ( TAR ) , along with four other reconstructions supporting the same conclusion . The graph was publicised , and became a focus of dispute for those opposed to the strengthening scientific consensus that late 20th-century warmth was exceptional . Those disputing the graph included Pat Michaels , the George C. Marshall Institute and Fred Singer . A paper by Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas claiming greater medieval warmth was used by the Bush administration chief of staff Philip Cooney to justify altering the first Environmental Protection Agency Report on the Environment . The paper was quickly dismissed by scientists in the Soon and Baliunas controversy , but on July 28 , Republican Jim Inhofe spoke in the Senate citing it to claim `` that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people '' . Later in 2003 , a paper by Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick disputing the data used in MBH98 paper was publicised by the George C. Marshall Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute . In 2004 , Hans von Storch published criticism of the statistical techniques as tending to underplay variations in earlier parts of the graph , though this was disputed and he later accepted that the effect was very small . In 2005 , McIntyre and McKitrick published criticisms of the principal component analysis methodology as used in MBH98 and MBH99 . The analysis therein was subsequently disputed by published papers , including and , which pointed to errors in the McIntyre and McKitrick methodology . In June 2005 , Rep. Joe Barton launched what Sherwood Boehlert , chairman of the House Science Committee , called a `` misguided and illegitimate investigation '' into the data , methods and personal information of Mann , Bradley and Hughes . At Boehlert 's request , a panel of scientists convened by the National Research Council was set up , which reported in 2006 , supporting Mann 's findings with some qualifications , including agreeing that there were some statistical failings but these had little effect on the result . Barton and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield requested Edward Wegman to set up a team of statisticians to investigate , and they supported McIntyre and McKitrick 's view that there were statistical failings , although they did not quantify whether there was any significant effect . They also produced an extensive network analysis which has been discredited by expert opinion and found to have issues of plagiarism . Arguments against the MBH studies were reintroduced as part of the Climatic Research Unit email controversy , but dismissed by eight independent investigations . More than two dozen reconstructions , using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records , have supported the broad consensus shown in the original 1998 hockey-stick graph , with variations in how flat the pre-20th century `` shaft '' appears . The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report cited 14 reconstructions , 10 of which covered 1,000 years or longer , to support its strengthened conclusion that it was likely that Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the 20th century were the highest in at least the past 1,300 years . Over a dozen subsequent reconstructions , including Mann et al. 2008 and , have supported these general conclusions . |
1414 | Winter | The earth is 15 years from a "mini ice-age" that will cause bitterly cold winters during which rivers such as the Thames freeze over, scientists have predicted. | Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates , between autumn and spring . Winter is caused by the axis of the Earth in that hemisphere being oriented away from the Sun . Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter , and some use a definition based on weather . When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere , it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere , and vice versa . In many regions , winter is associated with snow and freezing temperatures . The moment of winter solstice is when the sun 's elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value ( that is , the sun is at its farthest below the horizon as measured from the pole ) , meaning this day will have the shortest day and the longest night . The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates outside the polar regions differ from the date of the winter solstice , however , and these depend on latitude , due to the variation in the solar day throughout the year caused by the Earth 's elliptical orbit ( see earliest and latest sunrise and sunset ) . |
1653 | Physical_impacts_of_climate_change | The most recent ocean measurements show consistent warming. | Physical impacts of climate change This article is about the physical impacts of climate change . For some of these physical impacts , their effect on social and economic systems are also described . This article refers to reports produced by the IPCC . In their usage , `` climate change '' refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties , and that persists for extended periods , typically decades or longer ( IPCC , 2007d :30 ) . The climate change referred to may be due to natural causes and/or the result of human activity . |
3130 | Attribution_of_recent_climate_change | "There are other possible causes for climate change which could be associated with solar activity or related to variations in the temperature of the liquid core of the Earth, which is about 5,400 degrees Celsius. | Attribution of recent climate change Attribution of recent climate change is the effort to scientifically ascertain mechanisms responsible for recent climate changes on Earth , commonly known as ` global warming ' . The effort has focused on changes observed during the period of instrumental temperature record , when records are most reliable ; particularly in the last 50 years , when human activity has grown fastest and observations of the troposphere have become available . The dominant mechanisms are anthropogenic , i.e. , the result of human activity . They are : increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases global changes to land surface , such as deforestation increasing atmospheric concentrations of aerosols . There are also natural mechanisms for variation including climate oscillations , changes in solar activity , and volcanic activity . According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , it is `` extremely likely '' that human influence was the dominant cause of global warming between 1951 and 2010 . The IPCC defines `` extremely likely '' as indicating a probability of 95 to 100 % , based on an expert assessment of all the available evidence . Multiple lines of evidence support attribution of recent climate change to human activities : A basic physical understanding of the climate system : greenhouse gas concentrations have increased and their warming properties are well-established . Historical estimates of past climate changes suggest that the recent changes in global surface temperature are unusual . Computer-based climate models are unable to replicate the observed warming unless human greenhouse gas emissions are included . Natural forces alone ( such as solar and volcanic activity ) can not explain the observed warming . The IPCC 's attribution of recent global warming to human activities is a view shared by the scientific community , and is also supported by 196 other scientific organizations worldwide ( see also : scientific opinion on climate change ) . |
1406 | Mars | Yet, according to NASA, only one temperature sensing station is necessary for the two cities and the vast area between them to be adequately represented in their network." | Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System , after Mercury . Named after the Roman god of war , it is often referred to as the `` Red Planet '' because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance . Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere , having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys , deserts , and polar ice caps of Earth . The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth , as is the tilt that produces the seasons . Mars is the site of Olympus Mons , the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System , and of Valles Marineris , one of the largest canyons in the Solar System . The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40 % of the planet and may be a giant impact feature . Mars has two moons , Phobos and Deimos , which are small and irregularly shaped . These may be captured asteroids , similar to 5261 Eureka , a Mars trojan . There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars , as well as the possibility of extant life . Future astrobiology missions are planned , including the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers . Liquid water can not exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure , which is about that of the Earth 's , except at the lowest elevations for short periods . The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water . The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap , if melted , would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 m . In November 2016 , NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars . The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior . Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye , as can its reddish coloring . Its apparent magnitude reaches − 2.91 , which is surpassed only by Jupiter , Venus , the Moon , and the Sun . Optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 km across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth 's atmosphere . |
1120 | Early_2014_North_American_cold_wave | The connection between the vanishing Arctic ice and extreme summer weather in the northern hemisphere is probable, according to scientists, but not yet as certain as the winter link. | Early 2014 North American cold wave The 2014 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event that extended through the late winter months of the 2013 -- 2014 winter season , and was also part of an unusually cold winter affecting parts of Canada and parts of the north-central and upper eastern United States . The event occurred in early 2014 and was caused by a southward shift of the North Polar Vortex . Record-low temperatures also extended well into March . On January 2 , an Arctic cold front initially associated with a nor'easter tracked across Canada and the United States , resulting in heavy snowfall . Temperatures fell to unprecedented levels , and low temperature records were broken across the United States . Business , school , and road closures were common , as well as mass flight cancellations . Altogether , more than 200 million people were affected , in an area ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and extending south to include roughly 187 million residents of the Continental United States . |
1121 | Physical_impacts_of_climate_change | Another consequence of the fast melting Arctic raises the possibility that there may be even worse extreme weather to come, according to a few scientists: titanic Atlantic superstorms and hurricanes barreling across Europe. | Physical impacts of climate change This article is about the physical impacts of climate change . For some of these physical impacts , their effect on social and economic systems are also described . This article refers to reports produced by the IPCC . In their usage , `` climate change '' refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties , and that persists for extended periods , typically decades or longer ( IPCC , 2007d :30 ) . The climate change referred to may be due to natural causes and/or the result of human activity . |
2330 | Global_warming | Arctic sea ice has been retreating over the past 30 years. | Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years . In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing . Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years . Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change . Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned . |
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