query: 'The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change misled the press and public into believing that thousands of scientists backed its claims on manmade global warming, according to Mike Hulme, a prominent climate scientist and IPCC insider.

positive: United Nations The United Nations ( UN ) is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation and to create and maintain international order . A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations , the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict . At its founding , the UN had 51 member states ; there are now 193 . The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan , New York City , and experiences extraterritoriality . Further main offices are situated in Geneva , Nairobi , and Vienna . The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states . Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security , promoting human rights , fostering social and economic development , protecting the environment , and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine , natural disaster , and armed conflict . The UN is the largest , most familiar , most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organisation in the world .   The UN Charter was drafted at a conference between April -- June 1945 in San Francisco , and was signed on 26 June 1945 at the conclusion of the conference ; this charter took effect 24 October 1945 , and the UN began operation . The UN 's mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies . The organization participated in major actions in Korea and the Congo , as well as approving the creation of the state of Israel in 1947 . The organization 's membership grew significantly following widespread decolonization in the 1960s , and by the 1970s its budget for economic and social development programmes far outstripped its spending on peacekeeping . After the end of the Cold War , the UN took on major military and peacekeeping missions across the world with varying degrees of success .   The UN has six principal organs : the General Assembly ( the main deliberative assembly ) ; the Security Council ( for deciding certain resolutions for peace and security ) ; the Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC ; for promoting international economic and social co-operation and development ) ; the Secretariat ( for providing studies , information , and facilities needed by the UN ) ; the International Court of Justice ( the primary judicial organ ) ; and the UN Trusteeship Council ( inactive since 1994 ) . UN System agencies include the World Bank Group , the World Health Organization , the World Food Programme , UNESCO , and UNICEF . The UN 's most prominent officer is the Secretary-General , an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017 . Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UN 's work .   The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 , and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize . Other evaluations of the UN 's effectiveness have been mixed . Some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development , while others have called the organization ineffective , corrupt , or biased .

positive: 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 .

positive: 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 .

negative: Scientific consensus on climate change There is currently a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific organizations, many of which explicitly agree with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis reports.  Nearly all actively publishing climate scientists (97–98%) support the consensus on anthropogenic climate change, and the remaining 2% of contrarian studies either cannot be replicated or contain errors.

negative: IPCC Third Assessment Report The IPCC Third Assessment Report , Climate Change 2001 , is an assessment of available scientific and socio-economic information on climate change by the IPCC . The IPCC was established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) and the UN 's World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) '' ... to assess scientific , technical and socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change , its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation . '' -LSB- IPCC website -RSB- The Third Assessment Report ( TAR ) is the third of a series of assessments ; it has been superseded by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report ( AR4 ) , released in 2007 .   Statements of the IPCC or information from the TAR are often used as a reference showing a scientific consensus on the subject of global warming , although a small minority of scientists take issue with the UN assessments ( see also Global warming controversy and Politics of global warming ) .

negative: 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 ) .

negative: Vincent R. Gray __ NOTOC __   Vincent Richard Gray ( born 24 March 1922 ) is a New Zealand-based chemist , and a founder of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition .   Born in London on 24 March 1922 , Gray was awarded a PhD in physical chemistry by the University of Cambridge after studies on incendiary bomb fluids made from aluminium soaps . In New Zealand , he was the first Director of Building Research and later , Chief Chemist of the Coal Research Association .  He has also published many articles and reports , seven in peer-reviewed journals . After retirement , he had four and a half years in China and when he returned became a critic of the claim that climate was harmed by human emissions of greenhouse gases .   He has commented on every publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , with 1,898 comments on the 2007 Report . He has published critical studies on all of the reports including a book `` The Greenhouse Delusion : A Critique of ` Climate Change 2001 ' '' . He has published `` Confessions of a Climate Sceptic ''  He is sceptical of the anthropogenic global warming :  `` The two main `` scientific '' claims of the IPCC are the claim that `` the globe is warming '' and `` Increases in carbon dioxide emissions are responsible '' . Evidence for both of these claims is fatally flawed . ''   Gray has called for the IPCC to be abolished , claiming it is `` fundamentally corrupt '' due to his conclusion that for significant parts of the work of the IPCC , the data collection and scientific methods employed are unsound and that the IPCC resists all efforts to try to discuss or rectify these problems .   Gray was featured on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program Counterpoint in a debate entitled `` Nine Lies about Global Warming '' , and was interviewed in a featured story in the New Zealand Herald as a `` prominent '' global warming skeptic .   In 2002 , Gray also published a book , The Greenhouse Delusion : A Critique of `` Climate Change 2001 '' . In it , Gray argues `` that the quality and reliability of the IPCC 's measurements are poor , the system of determining how much weight should be attributed to different influences on the earth 's temperature is faulty , and the validity of evidence derived from computer modeling is questionable . ''

negative: Vicky Pope Vicky Pope is head of the climate predictions programme at the Hadley Centre . She spent 6 years as manager of atmospheric climate model development and evaluation . Since October 2004 she has been Head of the Climate Prediction Programme which provides independent scientific advice on climate change . Her research interests include developing and validating climate models .   In an interview for The Guardian newspaper , she said :   `` very few '' scientists disputed the latest IPCC report . `` The consensus on warming since the 1850s is that a large part is due to man 's activities , '' she said . `` That 's the line of the IPCC report and that position is strengthening . It is a very widespread consensus . There are a few very vocal people who are sceptics , only some of whom are actually scientists . Sceptics obviously have a place in the community . '' link

negative: Indian Network on Climate Change Assessment The Indian Network on Climate Change Assessment ( INCCA ) is a proposed network of scientists in India to be set up to publish peer-reviewed findings on climate change in India .   It was announced on 7 October 2009 , saying :   It was re-announced on 25 January 2012 by an official of the climate change division in the Environment Ministry after a strategy meeting chaired by Joint Secretary ( Climate ) J.M. Mausker , which also dealt with the framing of India 's National Action Plan on Climate Change ( NAPCC ) . On 4 February 2010 India 's environment minister Jairam Ramesh announced that it would bring together 250 scientists from 125 Indian research institutions and collaborate with international organisations.its first assessment of greenhouse gas emission was released on May 11 , 2010 and Its second climate assessment to be published in November 2010 would include reports on the Himalayas , the coastline of India , the Western Ghat highlands and the north-eastern region of India . He said it would operate as a `` sort of Indian IPCC '' , but will not rival the UN 's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) .   Ramesh also announced the initiation of an Indian National Institute of Himalayan Glaciology . He said that although he respected the IPCC , it was unequal to the task and its weakness was that it did not conduct its own research . Ramesh also indicated its biases made it insensitive to regional realities , and instead relied on compiling assessments of other reports , which , led to `` goof-ups '' on the Amazon forests , Himalayan glaciers , and ice caps .

negative: Climate risk Climate risk means a risk resulting from climate change and affecting natural and human systems and regions .   In the course of increasing global temperature and extreme weather phenomena  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) has been founded by the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) and the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) for a better understanding of climate change and meeting concerns of these observations . Its main aim is evaluating climate risks and exploring strategies for the prevention of these risks .

negative: Climatic Research Unit email controversy The Climatic Research Unit email controversy ( also known as `` Climategate '' ) began in November 2009 with the hacking of a server at the Climatic Research Unit ( CRU ) at the University of East Anglia ( UEA ) by an external attacker , copying thousands of emails and computer files , the Climatic Research Unit documents , to various internet locations several weeks before the Copenhagen Summit on climate change .   The story was first broken by climate change denialists with columnist James Delingpole popularising the term `` Climategate '' to describe the controversy . Several people considered climate change `` skeptics '' argued that the emails showed global warming was a scientific conspiracy , that scientists manipulated climate data and attempted to suppress critics . The CRU rejected this , saying the emails had been taken out of context and merely reflected an honest exchange of ideas .   The mainstream media picked up the story as negotiations over climate change mitigation began in Copenhagen on 7 December 2009 . Because of the timing , scientists , policy makers and public relations experts said that the release of emails was a smear campaign intended to undermine the climate conference . In response to the controversy , the American Association for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS ) , the American Meteorological Society ( AMS ) and the Union of Concerned Scientists ( UCS ) released statements supporting the scientific consensus that the Earth 's mean surface temperature had been rising for decades , with the AAAS concluding , `` based on multiple lines of scientific evidence that global climate change caused by human activities is now underway ... it is a growing threat to society . ''   Eight committees investigated the allegations and published reports , finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct . However , the reports called on the scientists to avoid any such allegations in the future by taking steps to regain public confidence in their work , for example by opening up access to their supporting data , processing methods and software , and by promptly honouring freedom of information requests . The scientific consensus that global warming is occurring as a result of human activity remained unchanged throughout the investigations .

negative: IPCC supplementary report, 1992 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change supplementary report of 1992 was published to contribute to the debate on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the 1992 Earth Summit , held in Rio de Janeiro .   The report updated and revised some of the data contained in the IPCC First Assessment Report , and included six new climate change scenarios , including an update of the 1990 reference scenario .   The major conclusion was that research since 1990 did `` not affect our fundamental understanding of the science of the greenhouse effect and either confirm or do not justify alteration of the major conclusions of the first IPCC scientific assessment '' . It noted that transient ( time-dependent ) simulations , which had been very preliminary in the FAR , were now improved , but did not include aerosol or ozone changes .

negative: United States House Science Subcommittee on Energy The Science Subcommittee on Energy is one of six subcommittees of the United States House Committee on Science , Space and Technology .   In 2007 , the subcommittee held the first Congressional hearing on global climate change for the 110th Congress . The Hearing on the State of Climate Change Science 2007 : The Findings of the Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , Working Group I Report , included four climate scientists who authored the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) assessment report and Speaker Nancy Pelosi .

negative: IPCC Fifth Assessment Report The Fifth Assessment Report ( AR5 ) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) is the fifth in a series of such reports . The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) and the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) to assess scientific , technical and socio-economic information concerning climate change , its potential effects and options for adaptation and mitigation .   The Fifth Assessment Report was finalized in 2014 . As had been the case in the past , the outline of the AR5 was developed through a scoping process which involved climate change experts from all relevant disciplines and users of IPCC reports ; in particular representatives from governments . Governments and organizations involved in the Fourth Report were asked to submit comments and observations in writing with the submissions analysed by the panel . The report was delivered in stages , starting with Working Group I 's report on the physical science basis , based on 9,200 peer-reviewed studies . The summaries for policy makers were released on 27 September 2013 for the first report , on 31 March 2014 for the second report entitled `` Impacts , Adaptation , and Vulnerability '' , and on 14 April 2014 for the third report entitled `` Mitigation of Climate Change '' . The Synthesis Report was released on 2 November 2014 , in time to pave the way for negotiations on reducing carbon emissions at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris during late 2015 .

negative: Piers Forster Piers Forster is Professor of Physical Climate Change and Director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds .  A physicist by training , his research focuses on quantifying the different human causes of climate change and the way the Earth responds . He is best known for his work on radiative forcing , climate sensitivity , contrails and geoengineering . He has contributed heavily to the writing of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports , including acting as a Lead Author for both the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and IPCC Fifth Assessment Report .

negative: Mike Hulme Michael ` Mike ' Hulme ( born 23 July 1960 ) is Professor of Climate and Culture in the Department of Geography at King 's College London . He was formerly professor of Climate Change in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia ( UEA ) .

negative: 2007 Nobel Peace Prize The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared , in two equal parts , between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) and Al Gore `` for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change , and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change '' .

negative: Long-term effects of global warming See also Effects of global warming . The focus of this article is on the effects beyond 2100 .   There are expected to be various long-term effects of global warming . Most discussion and research , including that by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) reports , concentrates on the effects of global warming up to 2100 , with only an outline of the effects beyond this .

negative: 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 . ''

negative: Anders Levermann Anders Levermann is a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Columbia University . He is a Professor of the Dynamics of the Climate System at Institute for Physics and Astrophysics of the Potsdam University , Germany . He was a lead author of the chapter on sea-level changes of the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC AR5 ) , and contributed to the paleoclimate chapter in the previous report ( IPCC-AR4 ) . Levermann advises political and economic stakeholders on the issue of climate change .

negative: Arturo Villavicencio Arturo Villavicencio is an Ecuadorian environmental researcher . He was nominated by Denmark in 1995 for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) and contributed to its fourth assessment report ( the work of the IPCC , including the contributions of many scientists , was recognised by the joint award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize ) .

negative: Roger Pulwarty Roger S. Pulwarty is a scientist from Trinidad and Tobago and contributed to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) . He is the director of the US National Integrated Drought Information System at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) in Boulder , Colorado .   Roger Pulwarty earned a B.S. degree ( Hons . ) in Atmospheric Sciences from York University in Toronto in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Climatology from the University of Boulder at Colorado in 1994 , where he worked under Professors Roger Barry and Herbert Riehl . His research and publications are on climate , climate impacts and adaptation policy in Western North America , Latin America and the Caribbean . From 1998-2002 he was the program director for the NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments . He is Professor Adjunct at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of the West Indies .   Dr. Pulwarty is a lead author on Chapter 17 of the 2007 IPCC Working Group II on Impacts , Adaptation and Vulnerability , on the IPCC 2008 Technical Report on Climate Change and Water and on Synthesis and Assessments Reports of the US Global Change Research Program . The IPCC is an intergovernmental body mandated by the UN to study the origins and effects of climate change on society and ecosystems . Dr. Pulwarty has served on Committees of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences , and has provided testimonies before the U.S. Congress on climate , water resources and adaptation . Dr. Pulwarty acts in advisory roles on climate , natural resources , and disaster management to several U.S. and international interests including the Western Governors Association , the Department of the Interior , the governments of CARICOM ( the Caribbean Economic Community ) , the Organization of American States , the UNDP , UNEP and the World Bank .

negative: Bali Declaration by Climate Scientists The 2007 Bali Declaration by Climate Scientists was a statement signed by over 200 climate scientists advocating specific targets for greenhouse gas emissions for the 21st century . The statement was based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Article 2 that committed signatories to the '' ... stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system '' and on the science available in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment report ( IPCC AR4 ) . The Bali Declaration was released to coincide with the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in Bali 3 -- 15 December 2007 .   Category : Climate change policy

negative: World Climate Change Conference, Moscow The World Climate Change Conference was held in Moscow from September 29 to October 3 , 2003 . The initiative of convening the Conference was taken by Vladimir Putin , the President of the Russian Federation . The Conference was convened by the Russian Federation , and supported by international bodies including the United Nations . It should not be confused with the World Climate Conferences .   The conference summary report , which was endorsed at concluding session of the Conference , October 3 , 2003 , endorsed the consensus represented by the IPCC TAR :   The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) has provided the basis for much of our present understanding of knowledge in this field in its Third Assessment Report ( TAR ) in 2001 . A large majority of the international scientific community has accepted its general conclusions that climate change is occurring , is primarily a result of human emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols , and that this represents a threat to people and ecosystems . Some divergent scientific interpretations were brought forward and discussed in the Conference .   Andreas Fischlin , conference participant and IPCC author was critical of the conference , saying :   However , concerning the scientific content of the conference , we had also to struggle with considerable difficulties . Unfortunately , there were not only leading scientists present , but also some colleagues who used the conference to express personal , political opinions based on value judgement instead of scientific facts and rigorously derived , scientific insights and thorough understanding . Thereby , I believe , principles of proper scientific conduct were violated too often and sometimes , I am afraid having to say so , even systematically . This contrasts sharply with the principles upheld by the IPCC ( Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ) , which allow only to assess the current knowledge based on the best available , peer reviewed scientific literature and which do not allow for any non-scientific value judgements , let alone policy recommendations .

negative: Larry R. Johnson Larry R. Johnson was a noted meteorologist .

negative: Venkatachalam Ramaswamy Venkatachalam Ramaswamy ( V. `` Ram '' Ramaswamy ) is the Director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ( OAR ) , studying climate modeling and climate change . `` A leading climate scientist '' , his work is cited as supporting evidence for significant stratospheric climate change . He focuses in particular on radiative transfer models and the hydrologic cycle in the atmosphere . He has actively supported the development of supercomputing approaches that enable researchers to achieve higher resolution and greater complexity in climate models . As a lead author involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , Ramaswamy 's contributions ( along with the contributions of many scientists ) was recognised by the joint award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC .

negative: Copenhagen Diagnosis The Copenhagen Diagnosis is a report written by twenty-six climate scientists from eight countries . It was published in 2009 and was a summary of the peer-reviewed literature to date .   The Copenhagen Diagnosis is a follow-up of the previous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 's Working Group 1 Report . The studies summarized , which date back to the cutoff point of the Working Group 1 Report , are those that authors viewed most relevant to the discussions at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference . The Copenhagen Diagnosis served as the midpoint between IPCC -- AR4 and IPCC-AR5 .   In total , the Copenhagen Diagnosis contains eight main sections , which are :   Surging Greenhouse gas emissions  Since 1990 , the combined global emission of carbon dioxide from various origins , such as cement production , deforestation , and fossil fuel burning , has increased 27 % .  Human-induced warming  Studies conducted by Lee and Rind show that only 10 % of global warming over the past century was due to the Sun .  Acceleration of melting ice caps  Glaciers and melting ice caps can contribute to about 8/10ths of a meter to global sea level rise .  Rapid Arctic sea-ice decline  According to simulations run by NCAR Climate System Model version 3 , the Arctic summer is expected to be ice-free by 2040 .  Underestimation of changing sea levels  In contrast to previous IPCC , the rate of sea level rise ( 3.4 mm/yr over the past 15 years ) has increased around 80 % faster than previously predicted .  Damage due to inaction  A region of permafrost , called the Yedoma , stores about 500 Gt of CO2 and , once released due to rising global temperatures , will increase global temperatures even more .  Turning point must come soon  The largest climate science conference , held in 2009 , has stated , `` Temperature rises above 2 ° C will be difficult for contemporary societies to cope with , and are likely to cause major societal and environmental disruptions through the rest of the century and beyond . ''  The Future  By 2100 , global mean air-temperature is projected to warm by 2 ° C -- 7 ° C above pre-industrial levels .

negative: List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming This is a list of scientists who have made statements that conflict with the scientific consensus on global warming as summarized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and endorsed by other scientific bodies . As approximately 97 % of publishing climate scientists support the consensus on anthropogenic climate change , this list represents a minority viewpoint .   The scientific consensus is that the global average surface temperature has risen over the last century . Scientific opinion on climate change was summarized in the 2001 Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) . The main conclusions on global warming at that time were as follows :  The global average surface temperature has risen 0.6 ± 0.2 ° C since the late 19th century , and 0.17 ° C per decade in the last 30 years .  `` There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities '' , in particular emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane .  If greenhouse gas emissions continue the warming will also continue , with temperatures projected to increase by 1.4 ° C to 5.8 ° C between 1990 and 2100 . Accompanying this temperature increase will be increases in some types of extreme weather and a projected sea level rise . The balance of impacts of global warming become significantly negative at larger values of warming .   These findings are recognized by the national science academies of all the major industrialized nations ; the consensus has strengthened over time and is now virtually unanimous . The level of consensus correlates with expertise in climate science .   There have been several efforts to compile lists of dissenting scientists , including a 2008 US senate minority report , the Oregon Petition , and a 2007 list by the Heartland Institute , all three of which have been criticized on a number of grounds .   For the purpose of this list , a `` scientist '' is defined as an individual who has published at least one peer-reviewed research article in the broad field of natural sciences , although not necessarily in a field relevant to climatology . Since the publication of the IPCC Third Assessment Report , each has made a clear statement in his or her own words ( as opposed to the name being found on a petition , etc. ) disagreeing with one or more of the report 's three main conclusions . Their views on climate change are usually described in more detail in their biographical articles . Few of the statements in the references for this list are part of the peer-reviewed scientific literature ; most are from other sources such as interviews , opinion pieces , online essays and presentations .   NB : Only individuals who have their own Wikipedia article may be included in the list .

negative: New Zealand Climate Science Coalition The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition is an organisation based in New Zealand which has the aim of refuting what it claims are unfounded claims about anthropogenic global warming .

negative: Why We Disagree About Climate Change Why We Disagree About Climate Change : Understanding Controversy , Inaction and Opportunity was written by Mike Hulme and was published by the Cambridge University Press in 2009 . As of November 2012 it has sold over 15,000 copies . In 2009 it was selected by The Economist magazine as one of its science and technology ` Books of the Year ' and in 2010 was jointly awarded the Gerald L Young Prize for the best book in human ecology .

negative: Seita Emori Seita Emori ( born 1970 in Kanagawa , Japan ) is a Japanese environmental scientist whose most noted work focuses upon the worldwide effects of Global Warming . He completed his Doctorate at the University of Tokyo in 1997 and thereafter joined the National Institute of Environmental Studies , Japan where he is currently the  Chief of the Climate Risk Assessment Research Section at the Center for Global Environmental Research . Emori is a contributing author to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) and a member of the IPCC Steering Committee for the `` Expert Meeting on New Scenarios '' , for which the IPCC received a Noble Prize in 2007 .   Among Emori 's publications are the academic paper `` Sensitivity Map of LAI to Precipitation and Surface Air Temperature Variations in a Global Scale '' ( co-authored with his Japans colleague Hiroshi Kanzawa and Jiahua Zhang and Congbin Fu of the START , Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Beijing , China ) .

negative: Reasons for concern The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) has organized many of the risks of climate change into five `` reasons for concern . '' The reasons for concern show that these risks increase with increases in the Earth 's global mean temperature ( i.e. , global warming ) . The IPCC 's five reasons for concern are : threats to endangered species and unique systems , damages from extreme climate events , effects that fall most heavily on developing countries and the poor within countries , global aggregate impacts ( i.e. , various measurements of total social , economic and ecological impacts ) , and large-scale high-impact events . The five reasons for concern are described in more detail below . The following descriptions are based on information from the IPCC 's Third ( TAR ) and Fourth Assessment Reports ( AR4 ) , published in 2001 and 2007 , respectively .

negative: Copenhagen Climate Challenge During the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 ( COP15 ) , there was a rival conference in Copenhagen , Denmark , for sceptics , called the Copenhagen Climate Challenge . which was organised by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow .   While COP15 attracted 33,200 delegates , the rival sceptic conference was attended by 60 people ( 15 journalists , 18 speakers , 27 audience ) . According to Lenore Taylor of The Australian , the attendees had an average age `` well over 60 '' . In closing his speech , Plimer stated that `` They 've got us outnumbered , but we 've got them outgunned , and that 's with the truth . '' Plimer also stated that `` It 's been freezing in Perth and bucketing down '' . Perth had below average rainfall in 2009 , and temperatures of 38 ° C were forecast for December 13 .

negative: Climate change acronyms The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) use tens of acronyms and initialisms in documents relating to climate change policy .


query: Individual carbon dioxide molecules have a short life time of around 5 years in the atmosphere.

positive: 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 .

positive: 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 .

positive: 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 .

negative: Carbon dioxide removal Carbon dioxide removal ( CDR ) methods refers to a number of technologies which reduce the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere . Among such technologies are bio-energy with carbon capture and storage , biochar , direct air capture , ocean fertilization and enhanced weathering . CDR is a different approach than removing CO2 from the stack emissions of large fossil fuel point sources , such as power stations . The latter reduces emission to the atmosphere but can not reduce the amount of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere . As CDR removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere , it creates negative emissions , offsetting emissions from small and dispersed point sources such as domestic heating systems , airplanes and vehicle exhausts . It is regarded by some as a form of climate engineering , while other commentators describe it as a form of carbon capture and storage or extreme mitigation . Whether CDR would satisfy common definitions of `` climate engineering '' or `` geoengineering '' usually depends upon the scale on which it would be undertaken .   The likely need for CDR has been publicly expressed by a range of individuals and organizations involved with climate change issues , including IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri , the UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres , and the World Watch Institute . Institutions with major programs focusing on CDR include the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the Earth Institute , Columbia University , and the Climate Decision Making Center , an international collaboration operated out of Carnegie-Mellon University 's Department of Engineering and Public Policy .   The mitigation effectiveness of air capture is limited by societal investment , land use , availability of geologic reservoirs , and leakage . The reservoirs are estimated to be sufficient to for storing at least 545 GtC . Storing 771 GtC would cause an 186 ppm atmospheric reduction . In order to return the atmospheric CO2 content to 350 ppm we need atmospheric reduction of 50 ppm plus an additional 2 ppm per year of current emissions .

negative: Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide are used to help answer questions about Earth 's carbon cycle . There are a variety of active and planned instruments for measuring carbon dioxide in Earth 's atmosphere from space . The first satellite mission designed to measure was the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases ( IMG ) on board the ADEOS I satellite in 1996 . This mission lasted less than a year . Since then , additional space-based measurements have begun , including those from two high-precision ( better than 0.3 % or 1 ppm ) satellites ( GOSAT and OCO-2 ) . Different instrument designs may reflect different primary missions .

negative: Carbon dioxide scrubber A carbon dioxide scrubber is a device which absorbs carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) . It is used to treat exhaust gases from industrial plants or from exhaled air in life support systems such as rebreathers or in spacecraft , submersible craft or airtight chambers . Carbon dioxide scrubbers are also used in controlled atmosphere ( CA ) storage . They have also been researched for carbon capture .

negative: Amorphous carbonia Amorphous carbonia , also called a-carbonia or a-CO2 , is an exotic amorphous solid form of carbon dioxide that is analogous to amorphous silica glass . It was first made in the laboratory in 2006 by subjecting dry ice to high pressures ( 40-48 gigapascal , or 400,000 to 480,000 atmospheres ) , in a diamond anvil cell . Amorphous carbonia is not stable at ordinary pressures -- it quickly reverts to normal CO2 .   While normally carbon dioxide forms molecular crystals , where individual molecules are bound by Van der Waals forces , in amorphous carbonia a covalently bound three-dimensional network of atoms is formed , in a structure analogous to silicon dioxide or germanium dioxide glass .   Mixtures of a-carbonia and a-silica may be a prospective very hard and stiff glass material stable at room temperature . Such glass may serve as protective coatings , e.g. in microelectronics .   The discovery has implications for astrophysics , as interiors of massive planets may contain amorphous solid carbon dioxide .

negative: CO2 fertilization effect The fertilization effect or carbon fertilization effect suggests that the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases the rate of photosynthesis in plants . The effect varies by species and availability of water .   From a quarter to half of Earth 's vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide .   One related trend may be what has been termed `` Arctic greening . '' Scientists have been finding , of late , that as northern portions of the planet warm up even as total atmospheric carbon dioxide increases , there 's been an increase in plant growth in these regions .   Studies led by Trevor Keenan from the Department of Energy 's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ( Berkeley Lab ) show that , from 2002 to 2014 , plants appear to have gone into overdrive , starting to pull more carbon dioxide out of the air than they have done before . The result was that the rate at which carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere did not increase during this time period , although previously , it had grown considerably in concert with growing greenhouse gas emissions .

negative: Global warming potential Global warming potential ( GWP ) is a relative measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere . It compares the amount of heat trapped by a certain mass of the gas in question to the amount of heat trapped by a similar mass of carbon dioxide . A GWP is calculated over a specific time interval , commonly 20 , 100 , or 500 years . GWP is expressed as a factor of carbon dioxide ( whose GWP is standardized to 1 ) . In the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , methane has a lifetime of 12.4 years and with climate-carbon feedbacks a global warming potential of 86 over 20 years and 34 over 100 years in response to emissions . User related choices such as the time horizon can greatly affect the numerical values obtained for carbon dioxide equivalents . For a change in time horizon from 20 to 100 years , the GWP for methane decreases by a factor of approximately 2.5 .  The substances subject to restrictions under the Kyoto protocol either are rapidly increasing their concentrations in Earth 's atmosphere or have a large GWP .   The GWP depends on the following factors :  the absorption of infrared radiation by a given species  the spectral location of its absorbing wavelengths  the atmospheric lifetime of the species  Thus , a high GWP correlates with a large infrared absorption and a long atmospheric lifetime . The dependence of GWP on the wavelength of absorption is more complicated . Even if a gas absorbs radiation efficiently at a certain wavelength , this may not affect its GWP much if the atmosphere already absorbs most radiation at that wavelength . A gas has the most effect if it absorbs in a `` window '' of wavelengths where the atmosphere is fairly transparent . The dependence of GWP as a function of wavelength has been found empirically and published as a graph .   Because the GWP of a greenhouse gas depends directly on its infrared spectrum , the use of infrared spectroscopy to study greenhouse gases is centrally important in the effort to understand the impact of human activities on global climate change .

negative: Gaseous signaling molecules Gaseous signaling molecules are gaseous molecules that are either synthesised internally ( endogenously ) in the organism , tissue or cell or are received by the organism , tissue or cell from outside ( say , from the atmosphere or hydrosphere , as in the case of oxygen ) and that are used to transmit chemical signals which induce certain physiological or biochemical changes in the organism , tissue or cell . The term is applied to , for example , oxygen , carbon dioxide , nitric oxide , carbon monoxide , hydrogen sulfide , sulfur dioxide , nitrous oxide , hydrogen cyanide , ammonia , methane , hydrogen , ethylene , etc. .   Many , but not all , gaseous signaling molecules are called gasotransmitters .   The biological roles of each of the gaseous signaling molecules are in short outlined below .

negative: Carboxysome Carboxysomes are bacterial organelles consisting of polyhedral protein shells filled with the enzyme Ribulose-1 ,5 - biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase ( RuBisCO ) - the predominant enzyme in carbon fixation and the rate limiting enzyme in the Calvin Cycle-and a carbonic anhydrase . Carboxysomes are thought to have evolved as a consequence of the increase in oxygen concentration in the ancient atmosphere ; this is because oxygen is a competing substrate to carbon dioxide in the RuBisCO reaction . To overcome the inefficiency of RuBisCO , carboxysomes concentrate carbon dioxide inside the shell by means of co-localized carbonic anhydrase activity , which produces carbon dioxide from the bicarbonate that diffuses into the carboxysome . The resulting production of carbon dioxide near RuBisCO decreases the proportion of ribulose-1 ,5 - bisphosphate oxygenation and thereby avoids costly photorespiratory reactions . The surrounding shell provides a barrier to carbon dioxide loss , helping to increase its concentration around RuBisCO . The carboxysome is an essential part of the carbon-concentrating mechanism ( CCM ) .   Carboxysomes are the best studied example of a bacterial microcompartment ( BMC ) , the term for functionally diverse organelles that are alike in having a protein shell .

negative: Carbon dioxide accumulation in Earth's atmosphere The following articles relate to Carbon dioxide accumulation in Earth 's atmosphere :   Carbon dioxide in Earth 's atmosphere  Global warming  Greenhouse effect

negative: Carbon profiling Carbon profiling is a mathematical process that calculates how much carbon dioxide is put into the atmosphere per m2 of space in a building over one year .   The analysis is in two parts which are then added together to produce an overall figure which is termed the ` Carbon Profile ' :  operational carbon emissions  embodied carbon emissions .   Embodied carbon emissions relate to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from creating and maintaining the materials that form the building e.g. the carbon dioxide released from the baking of bricks or smelting or iron . In the Carbon Profiling Model these emissions are measured as Embodied Carbon Efficiency ( ECE ) , measured as kg of CO2/m2/year .   Occupational Carbon Emissions relate to the amount of Carbon Dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from the direct use of energy to run the building e.g. the heating or electricity used by the building over the year . In the Carbon Profiling Model these emissions are measured in BER 's ( Building Emission Rate ) in kg of / m2/year .   The BER is a United Kingdom government accepted unit of measurement that comes from an approved calculation process called sBEM ( Simplified Building Emission Model )   The purpose of Carbon Profiling is to provide a method of analyzing and comparing both operational and embodied carbon emissions at the same time . With this information it is then possible to allocate a projects resources in such a way to minimize the total amount of Carbon Dioxide emitted into the atmosphere through the use of a given piece of space .   A secondary benefit is that having quantified the Carbon Profiling of different buildings it is then possible to make comparisons and rank buildings in term of their performance . This allows investors and occupiers to identify which building are good and bad carbon investments .   Simon Sturgis and Gareth Roberts of Sturgis Associates in the United Kingdom originally developed ` Carbon Profiling ' in December 2007 .

negative: RuBisCO Ribulose-1 ,5 - bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase , commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCO , RuBPCase , or RuBPco , is an enzyme involved in the first major step of carbon fixation , a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is converted by plants and other photosynthetic organisms to energy-rich molecules such as glucose . In chemical terms , it catalyzes the carboxylation of ribulose-1 ,5 - bisphosphate ( also known as RuBP ) . It is probably the most abundant enzyme on Earth .

negative: Carbon credit A carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or the mass of another greenhouse gas with a carbon dioxide equivalent ( tCO2e ) equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide .   Carbon credits and carbon markets are a component of national and international attempts to mitigate the growth in concentrations of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) . One carbon credit is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide , or in some markets , carbon dioxide equivalent gases . Carbon trading is an application of an emissions trading approach . Greenhouse gas emissions are capped and then markets are used to allocate the emissions among the group of regulated sources .   The goal is to allow market mechanisms to drive industrial and commercial processes in the direction of low emissions or less carbon intensive approaches than those used when there is no cost to emitting carbon dioxide and other GHGs into the atmosphere . Since GHG mitigation projects generate credits , this approach can be used to finance carbon reduction schemes between trading partners and around the world .   There are also many companies that sell carbon credits to commercial and individual customers who are interested in lowering their carbon footprint on a voluntary basis . These carbon offsetters purchase the credits from an investment fund or a carbon development company that has aggregated the credits from individual projects . Buyers and sellers can also use an exchange platform to trade , which is like a stock exchange for carbon credits . The quality of the credits is based in part on the validation process and sophistication of the fund or development company that acted as the sponsor to the carbon project . This is reflected in their price ; voluntary units typically have less value than the units sold through the rigorously validated Clean Development Mechanism .

negative: Permafrost carbon cycle The Permafrost Carbon Cycle is a sub-cycle of the larger global carbon cycle . Permafrost is defined as subsurface material that remains below 0o C ( 32o F ) for at least two consecutive years . Because permafrost soils remain frozen for long periods of time , they store large amounts of carbon and other nutrients within their frozen framework during that time . Permafrost represents a large carbon reservoir that is seldom considered when determining global terrestrial carbon reservoirs . Recent and ongoing scientific research however , is changing this view .   The permafrost carbon cycle ( Arctic Carbon Cycle ) deals with the transfer of carbon from permafrost soils to terrestrial vegetation and microbes , to the atmosphere , back to vegetation , and finally back to permafrost soils through burial and sedimentation due to cryogenic processes . Some of this carbon is transferred to the ocean and other portions of the globe through the global carbon cycle . The cycle includes the exchange of carbon dioxide and methane between terrestrial components and the atmosphere , as well as the transfer of carbon between land and water as methane , dissolved organic carbon , dissolved inorganic carbon , particulate inorganic carbon and particulate organic carbon .

negative: Carbon footprint A carbon footprint is historically defined as the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual , event , organisation , or product , expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent .   In most cases , the total carbon footprint can not be exactly calculated because of inadequate knowledge of and data about the complex interactions between contributing processes , especially which including the influence on natural processes storing or releasing carbon dioxide . For this reason , Wright , Kemp , and Williams , have suggested to define the carbon footprint as :   A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) and methane ( CH4 ) emissions of a defined population , system or activity , considering all relevant sources , sinks and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population , system or activity of interest . Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the relevant 100-year global warming potential ( GWP100 ) .   Greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) can be emitted through land clearance and the production and consumption of food , fuels , manufactured goods , materials , wood , roads , buildings , transportation and other services . For simplicity of reporting , it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide , or its equivalent of other GHGs , emitted .   Most of the carbon footprint emissions for the average U.S. household come from `` indirect '' sources , i.e. fuel burned to produce goods far away from the final consumer . These are distinguished from emissions which come from burning fuel directly in one 's car or stove , commonly referred to as `` direct '' sources of the consumer 's carbon footprint .   The concept name of the carbon footprint originates from ecological footprint , discussion , which was developed by Rees and Wackernagel in the 1990s which estimates the number of `` earths '' that would theoretically be required if everyone on the planet consumed resources at the same level as the person calculating their ecological footprint . However , given that ecological footprints are a measure of failure , Anindita Mitra ( CREA , Seattle ) chose the more easily calculated `` carbon footprint '' to easily measure use of carbon , as an indicator of unsustainable energy use . In 2007 , carbon footprint was used as a measure of carbon emissions to develop the energy plan for City of Lynnwood , Washington . Carbon footprints are much more specific than ecological footprints since they measure direct emissions of gases that cause climate change into the atmosphere .   Carbon footprint is one of a family of footprint indicators , which also includes water footprint and land footprint .

negative: Deforestation and climate change Deforestation is one of the main contributors to climate change . It is the second largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere , after fossil fuel combustion . Deforestation and forest degradation contribute to atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions through combustion of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon . It used to account for more than 20 % of carbon dioxide emissions , but it 's currently somewhere around the 10 % mark . By 2008 , deforestation was 12 % of total , or 15 % if peatlands are included . These proportions are likely to have fallen since given the continued rise of fossil fuel use .   Averaged over all land and ocean surfaces , temperatures warmed roughly 1.53 ° F ( 0.85 ° C ) between 1880 and 2012 , according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . In the Northern Hemisphere , 1983 to 2012 were the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years .

negative: Paul Wennberg Paul O. Wennberg is the R. Stanton Avery Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Science and Engineering at the California Institute of Technology ( Caltech ) . He is the director of the Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Science . He is chair of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network and a founding member of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory project , which created NASA 's first spacecraft for analysis of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere . He is also the principal investigator for the Mars Atmospheric Trace Molecule Occultation Spectrometer ( MATMOS ) to investigate trace gases in Mars 's atmosphere .   Wennberg 's research focuses on the atmospheric chemistry of planets , including air quality , photochemistry , and the carbon cycle . He designs and builds remote-sensing and in-situ scientific instruments which are used in field investigations supported by the National Science Foundation and NASA . His scientific instruments have made it possible to measure radicals in the atmosphere at concentrations that could not previously be detected . He measures atmospheric trace gases , making it possible to accurately describe the exchange of carbon dioxide and other gases between the atmosphere and the land and ocean . His research has substantially advanced understanding of the atmospheric chemistry of the troposphere and the stratosphere .

negative: Carbonate–silicate cycle The carbonate -- silicate geochemical cycle describes the transformation of silicate rocks to carbonate rocks by weathering and sedimentation at Earth 's surface and the transformation of carbonate rocks back into silicates by metamorphism and magmatism . It plays a large part in the carbon cycle , since the equilibrium point of the carbonate-silicate cycle dictates the pace of carbon release from the lithosphere .   The carbonate-silicate cycle involves several chemical reactions that occur in different environments . In the atmosphere , gaseous carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) dissolves in rainwater , forming natural carbonic acid ( H2CO3 ) . This weak acid weathers silicate rocks on continents , slowly dissolving the rock and releasing aqueous minerals through the chemical reaction CaSiO3 ( s ) ( wollastonite ) + 2CO2 ( g ) + H2O ( l ) → Ca + 2HCO ( aq ) ( bicarbonate ) + SiO2 ( aq ) ( dissolved silica ) . These dissolved minerals are eventually carried by water to the ocean , where they are used by living organisms such as foraminifera , radiolarians , coccolithopores , and diatoms to create shells of CaCO3 ( calcite ) or SiO2 ( opal ) through the reactions Ca2 + ( aq ) + 2HCO3 → CaCO3 ( s ) + CO2 ( g ) + H2O ( l ) ( for calcite precipitation ) and SiO2 ( aq ) → SiO2 ( s ) ( for opal precipitation ) . When these organisms die , many shells are remineralized but some shells fall all the way to the sea floor and are buried . The cycle is completed when the sea floor is subducted and carbonate minerals recombine with silicate minerals under temperatures above 300 ° C to reform calcium silicates and release gaseous CO2 through volcanism ( CaCO3 ( s ) + SiO2 ( s ) → CaSiO3 ( s ) + CO2 ( g ) ) .   The carbonate-silicate cycle impacts the global carbon cycle , as carbon dioxide is removed from the Earth 's surface through the burial of weathered minerals in deep ocean sediments and returned to the atmosphere through metamorphism and volcanism . However , this process is far from being a closed loop . In Earth history generally the formation of carbonates significantly outpaces the formation of silicates , effectively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . Because carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas , the carbonate-silicate cycle is suspected to initiate ice ages by creating a negative feedback on the global temperature with a typical time scale of a few million years that is capable of countering water vapor and carbon dioxide short-term positive feedback on global temperature .   The carbonate-silicate cycle equilibrium point is shifted on Venus due to surface temperatures above 300 ° C , which favor the formation of calcium silicates over weathering . Thus , Venus has a high-density carbon-dioxide atmosphere .

negative: Landfill gas Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill . Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane , with the remainder being mostly carbon dioxide . Trace amounts of other volatile organic compounds comprise the remainder ( < 1 % ) . These trace gases include a large array of species , mainly simple hydrocarbons .   Landfill gases have an influence on climate change . The major components are CO2 and methane , both of which are greenhouse gas . In terms of global warming potential , methane is over 25 times more detrimental to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide . Landfills are the third largest source of methane in the US .

negative: Metal carbon dioxide complex Metal carbon dioxide complexes are coordination complexes that contain carbon dioxide ligands . Aside from the fundamental interest in the coordination chemistry of simple molecules , studies in this field are motivated by the possibility that transition metals might catalyze useful transformations of CO2 . This research is relevant both to organic synthesis and to the production of `` solar fuels '' that would avoid the use of petroleum-based fuels .

negative: Airborne fraction The airborne fraction is a scaling factor defined as the ratio of the annual increase in atmospheric to the emissions from anthropogenic sources . It represents the proportion of human emitted that remains in the atmosphere . The fraction averages about 45 % , meaning that approximately half the human-emitted is absorbed by ocean and land surfaces . There is some evidence for a recent increase in airborne fraction , which would imply a faster increase in atmospheric for a given rate of human fossil-fuel burning . However , other sources suggest that the `` fraction of carbon dioxide has not increased either during the past 150 years or during the most recent five decades '' .   Changes in carbon sinks can affect the airborne fraction .

negative: Carbon neutrality Carbon neutrality , or having a net zero carbon footprint , refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset , or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference . It is used in the context of carbon dioxide releasing processes associated with transportation , energy production , and industrial processes such as production of carbon neutral fuel .   The carbon neutrality concept may be extended to include other greenhouse gases ( GHG ) measured in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence ( e ) -- the impact a GHG has on the atmosphere expressed in the equivalent amount of CO2 . The term `` climate neutral '' reflects the broader inclusiveness of other greenhouse gases in climate change , even if CO2 is the most abundant , encompassing other greenhouse gases regulated by the Kyoto Protocol , namely : methane ( CH4 ) , nitrous oxide ( N2O ) , hydrofluorocarbons ( HFC ) , perfluorocarbons ( PFC ) , and sulphur hexafluoride ( SF6 ) . Both terms are used interchangeably throughout this article .   The best practice for organizations and individuals seeking carbon neutral status entails reducing and/or avoiding carbon emissions first so that only unavoidable emissions are offset . Carbon neutral status is commonly achieved in two ways :  Balancing carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels , with renewable energy that creates a similar amount of useful energy , so that the carbon emissions are compensated , or alternatively using only renewable energies that do n't produce any carbon dioxide ( also called a post-carbon economy ) .  Carbon offsetting by paying others to remove or sequester 100 % of the carbon dioxide emitted from the atmosphere -- for example by planting trees -- or by funding ` carbon projects ' that should lead to the prevention of future greenhouse gas emissions , or by buying carbon credits to remove ( or ` retire ' ) them through carbon trading . While carbon offsetting is often used alongside energy conservation measures to minimize energy use , the practice is criticized by some .   The concept may be extended to include other greenhouse gases measured in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence . The phrase was the New Oxford American Dictionary 's Word Of The Year for 2006 .

negative: Nitrosomonas Nitrosomonas is a genus of rod-shaped chemoautotrophic bacteria .   This organism oxidizes ammonia into nitrite as a metabolic process . Nitrosomonas are useful in bioremediation . They are important in the nitrogen cycle by increasing the availability of nitrogen to plants while limiting carbon dioxide fixation . The genus is found in soil , freshwater , and on building surfaces , especially in areas that contains high levels of nitrogen compounds .   Nitrosomonas prefers an optimum pH of 6.0-9 .0 and a temperature range of 20 to 30 ° C. Most species are motile with a flagellum located in the polar regions .   The organism has power generating membranes , which form long , thin tubes inside the cell . These use electrons from the oxidation of ammonia to produce energy . It obtains the carbon it requires from the atmosphere via carbon fixation , which converts carbon in a gaseous form into carbon bound in organic molecules .   Unlike plants , which fix carbon into sugar through energy gained through the process of photosynthesis , Nitrosomonas use energy gained through the oxidation of ammonia to fix gaseous carbon dioxide into organic molecules . Nitrosomonas must consume large amounts of ammonia before cell division can occur , and the process of cell division may take up to several days . This microbe is photophobic , and will generate a biofilm matrix or form clumps with other microbes to avoid light .   The species Nitrosomonas europaea has been identified as also being able to degrade a variety of halogenated compounds including trichloroethylene , benzene , and vinyl chloride . Some Nitrosomonas species possess the enzyme urease , which catalyzes the conversion of the urea molecule to two ammonia molecules and one carbon dioxide molecule . Nitrosomonas europaea , as well as populations of soil-dwelling ammonia-oxidizing bacteria ( AOB ) , have been shown to assimilate the carbon dioxide released by the reaction to make biomass via the Calvin Cycle , and harvest energy by oxidizing ammonia ( the other product of urease ) to nitrite . This feature may explain enhanced growth of AOB in the presence of urea in acidic environments .   Some sources regard Nitrobacteraceae to be the family of the genus Nicosomonas .

negative: Ocean acidification Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth 's oceans , caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere . Seawater is slightly basic ( meaning pH > 7 ) , and the process in question is a shift towards pH-neutral conditions rather than a transition to acidic conditions ( pH < 7 ) . Ocean alkalinity is not changed by the process , or may increase over long time periods due to carbonate dissolution . An estimated 30 -- 40 % of the carbon dioxide from human activity released into the atmosphere dissolves into oceans , rivers and lakes . To achieve chemical equilibrium , some of it reacts with the water to form carbonic acid . Some of these extra carbonic acid molecules react with a water molecule to give a bicarbonate ion and a hydronium ion , thus increasing ocean acidity ( H + ion concentration ) . Between 1751 and 1996 surface ocean pH is estimated to have decreased from approximately 8.25 to 8.14 , representing an increase of almost 35 % in H + ion concentration in the world 's oceans . Earth System Models project that within the last decade ocean acidity exceeded historical analogues and in combination with other ocean biogeochemical changes could undermine the functioning of marine ecosystems and disrupt the provision of many goods and services associated with the ocean .   Increasing acidity is thought to have a range of potentially harmful consequences for marine organisms , such as depressing metabolic rates and immune responses in some organisms , and causing coral bleaching . By increasing the presence of free hydrogen ions , each molecule of carbonic acid that forms in the oceans ultimately results in the conversion of two carbonate ions into bicarbonate ions . This net decrease in the amount of carbonate ions available makes it more difficult for marine calcifying organisms , such as coral and some plankton , to form biogenic calcium carbonate , and such structures become vulnerable to dissolution . Ongoing acidification of the oceans threatens food chains connected with the oceans . As members of the InterAcademy Panel , 105 science academies have issued a statement on ocean acidification recommending that by 2050 , global emissions be reduced by at least 50 % compared to the 1990 level .   While ongoing ocean acidification is anthropogenic in origin , it has occurred previously in Earth 's history . The most notable example is the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum ( PETM ) , which occurred approximately 56 million years ago . For reasons that are currently uncertain , massive amounts of carbon entered the ocean and atmosphere , and led to the dissolution of carbonate sediments in all ocean basins .   Ocean acidification has been called the `` evil twin of global warming '' and `` the other problem '' .

negative: Keeling Curve The Keeling Curve is a graph that plots the ongoing change in concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth 's atmosphere since the 1950s . It is based on continuous measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii that began under the supervision of Charles David Keeling . Keeling 's measurements showed the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere . Many scientists credit Keeling 's graph with first bringing the world 's attention to the current increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere .   Charles David Keeling , of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego , was the first person to make frequent regular measurements of the atmospheric carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) concentration , taking readings at the South Pole and in Hawaii from 1958 onwards .   Measurements of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere had been taken prior to the Mauna Loa measurements , but on an ad-hoc basis across a variety of locations . Guy Stewart Callendar had shown a steady increase in concentrations since the 19th century . Keeling had perfected the measurement techniques and observed `` strong diurnal behavior with steady values of about 310 ppm in the afternoon '' at three locations : Big Sur near Monterey , the rain forests of Olympic Peninsula , and high mountain forests in Arizona . By measuring the ratio of two isotopes of carbon , Keeling attributed the diurnal change to respiration from local plants and soils , with afternoon values representative of the `` free atmosphere '' . By 1960 , Keeling and his group had determined that the measurement records from California , Antarctica , and Hawaii were long enough to see not just the diurnal and seasonal variations , but also a year-on-year increase that roughly matched the amount of fossil fuels burned per year . In the article that made him famous , Keeling observed : `` at the South Pole the observed rate of increase is nearly that to be expected from the combustion of fossil fuel '' .

negative: Mars regional atmospheric modeling system The Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System ( MRAMS ) is a computer program that simulates the circulations of the Martian atmosphere at regional and local scales . MRAMS , developed by Scot Rafkin and Timothy Michaels , is derived from the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System ( RAMS ) developed by William R. Cotton and Roger A. Pielke to study atmospheric circulations on the Earth .   Key features of MRAMS include a non-hydrostatic , fully compressible dynamics , explicit bin dust , water , and carbon dioxide ice atmospheric physics model , and a fully prognostic regolith model that includes carbon dioxide deposition and sublimation . Several Mars exploration projects , including the Mars Exploration Rovers , the Phoenix Scout Mission , and the Mars Science Laboratory have used MRAMS to study a variety of atmospheric circulations .

negative: Huygens (crater) Huygens is an impact crater on Mars named in honour of the Dutch astronomer , mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens .   The crater is approximately 456 km in diameter and can be found at 304.4 ° W 14.0 ° S , in the Iapygia quadrangle .   Scientists were delighted to see branched channels in pictures taken with spacecraft that were sent in orbit around Mars . The existence of these channels is strong evidence that much water once flowed on the surface of the planet . Simple organisms may have once lived where water once was . An excellent group of these channels is shown in the picture below from the rim of Huygens taken with THEMIS .   Carbonates ( calcium or iron carbonates ) were discovered in a crater on the rim of Huygens . The impact on the rim exposed material that had been dug up from the impact that created Huygens . These minerals represent evidence that Mars once had a thicker carbon dioxide atmosphere with abundant moisture . Carbonates of these kinds only form when there is a lot of water . They were found with the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars ( CRISM ) instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter . Earlier , the instrument had detected clay minerals . The carbonates were found near the clay minerals . Both of these minerals form in wet environments . It is supposed that billions of years ago Mars was much warmer and wetter . At that time , carbonates would have formed from water and the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere . Later the deposits of carbonate would have been buried . The double impact has now exposed the minerals . Earth has vast carbonate deposits in the form of limestone .

negative: 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 .

negative: Acid rain Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic , meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions ( low pH ) . It can have harmful effects on plants , aquatic animals and infrastructure . Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide , which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids . Some governments have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere with positive results . Nitrogen oxides can also be produced naturally by lightning strikes , and sulfur dioxide is produced by volcanic eruptions . Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests , freshwaters and soils , killing insect and aquatic life-forms , causing paint to peel , corrosion of steel structures such as bridges , and weathering of stone buildings and statues as well as having impacts on human health .

negative: Asphyxiant gas An asphyxiant gas is a nontoxic or minimally toxic gas which reduces or displaces the normal oxygen concentration in breathing air . Breathing of oxygen-depleted air can lead to death by asphyxiation ( suffocation ) . Because asphyxiant gases are relatively inert and odorless , their presence in high concentration may not be noticed , except in the case of carbon dioxide ( hypercapnia ) .   Toxic gases , by contrast , cause death by other mechanisms , such as competing with oxygen on the cellular level ( e.g. carbon monoxide ) or directly damaging the respiratory system ( e.g. phosgene ) . Far smaller quantities of these are deadly .   Notable examples of asphyxiant gases are nitrogen , argon , helium , butane and propane . Along with trace gases such as carbon dioxide and ozone , these compose 79 % of Earth 's atmosphere . The atmosphere is mostly harmless because the remaining 21 % is O2 .

negative: Carbonated drink Carbonated drinks are beverages that contain dissolved carbon dioxide . The dissolution of CO2 in a liquid , gives rise to fizz or effervescence . The process usually involves carbon dioxide under high pressure . When the pressure is removed , the carbon dioxide is released from the solution as small bubbles , which causes the solution to become effervescent , or fizzy . A common example is the dissolving of carbon dioxide in water , resulting in carbonated water . Carbon dioxide is only weakly soluble in water , therefore it separates into a gas when the pressure is released .   Carbonated beverages are prepared by mixing flavored syrup with carbonated water , both chilled . Carbonation levels range up to 5 volumes of CO2 per liquid volume . Ginger ale , colas , and related drinks are carbonated with 3.5 volumes . Other drinks , often fruity ones , are carbonated less .

negative: Terraforming of Venus The terraforming of Venus is the hypothetical process of engineering the global environment of the planet Venus in such a way as to make it suitable for human habitation . Terraforming Venus was first seriously proposed by the astronomer Carl Sagan in 1961 , although fictional treatments , such as The Big Rain by Poul Anderson , preceded it . Adjustments to the existing environment of Venus to support human life would require at least three major changes to the planet . These three changes are closely interrelated , because Venus 's extreme temperature is due to the greenhouse effect caused by its dense carbon-dioxide atmosphere :  Reducing Venus 's surface temperature of 462 C.  Eliminating most of the planet 's dense 9.2 MPa carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide atmosphere , via removal or conversion to some other form .  Addition of breathable oxygen to the atmosphere .

negative: Atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth 's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied . It is a multidisciplinary approach of research and draws on environmental chemistry , physics , meteorology , computer modeling , oceanography , geology and volcanology and other disciplines . Research is increasingly connected with other arenas of study such as climatology .   The composition and chemistry of the Earth 's atmosphere is of importance for several reasons , but primarily because of the interactions between the atmosphere and living organisms . The composition of the Earth 's atmosphere changes as result of natural processes such as volcano emissions , lightning and bombardment by solar particles from corona . It has also been changed by human activity and some of these changes are harmful to human health , crops and ecosystems . Examples of problems which have been addressed by atmospheric chemistry include acid rain , ozone depletion , photochemical smog , greenhouse gases and global warming . Atmospheric chemists seek to understand the causes of these problems , and by obtaining a theoretical understanding of them , allow possible solutions to be tested and the effects of changes in government policy evaluated .