query: HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) are tens of thousands of times more polluting than carbon dioxide.

positive: Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions , based on the fact that ( a ) global warming exists and ( b ) human-made CO2 emissions have caused it . The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto , Japan , on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005 . There are currently 192 parties ( Canada withdrew effective December 2012 ) to the Protocol .   The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to `` a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system '' ( Art. 2 ) . The Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities : it puts the obligation to reduce current emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible for the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere .   The Protocol 's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012 . A second commitment period was agreed on in 2012 , known as the Doha Amendment to the protocol , in which 37 countries have binding targets : Australia , the European Union ( and its 28 member states ) , Belarus , Iceland , Kazakhstan , Liechtenstein , Norway , Switzerland , and Ukraine . Belarus , Kazakhstan and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from the Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets . Japan , New Zealand and Russia have participated in Kyoto 's first-round but have not taken on new targets in the second commitment period . Other developed countries without second-round targets are Canada ( which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 ) and the United States ( which has not ratified the Protocol ) . As of July 2016 , 66 states have accepted the Doha Amendment , while entry into force requires the acceptances of 144 states . Of the 37 countries with binding commitments , 7 have ratified .   Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ends in 2020 . This resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement , which is a separate instrument under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto protocol .

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: Carbon offset A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere .   Carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent ( CO2e ) and may represent six primary categories of greenhouse gases : carbon dioxide , methane ( CH4 ) , nitrous oxide ( N2O ) , perfluorocarbons ( PFCs ) , hydrofluorocarbons ( HFCs ) , and sulfur hexafluoride ( SF6 ) . One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases .   There are two markets for carbon offsets . In the larger , compliance market , companies , governments , or other entities buy carbon offsets in order to comply with caps on the total amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit . This market exists in order to achieve compliance with obligations of Annex 1 Parties under the Kyoto Protocol , and of liable entities under the EU Emission Trading Scheme . In 2006 , about $ 5.5 billion of carbon offsets were purchased in the compliance market , representing about 1.6 billion metric tons of CO2e reductions .   In the much smaller , voluntary market , individuals , companies , or governments purchase carbon offsets to mitigate their own greenhouse gas emissions from transportation , electricity use , and other sources . For example , an individual might purchase carbon offsets to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions caused by personal air travel . Many companies ( see list ) offer carbon offsets as an up-sell during the sales process so that customers can mitigate the emissions related with their product or service purchase ( such as offsetting emissions related to a vacation flight , car rental , hotel stay , consumer good , etc. ) . In 2008 , about $ 705 million of carbon offsets were purchased in the voluntary market , representing about 123.4 million metric tons of CO2e reductions . Some fuel suppliers in the UK offer fuel which has been carbon offset such as Fuel dyes .   Offsets are typically achieved through financial support of projects that reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short - or long-term . The most common project type is renewable energy , such as wind farms , biomass energy , or hydroelectric dams . Others include energy efficiency projects , the destruction of industrial pollutants or agricultural byproducts , destruction of landfill methane , and forestry projects . Some of the most popular carbon offset projects from a corporate perspective are energy efficiency and wind turbine projects .   Carbon offsetting has gained some appeal and momentum mainly among consumers in western countries who have become aware and concerned about the potentially negative environmental effects of energy-intensive lifestyles and economies . The Kyoto Protocol has sanctioned offsets as a way for governments and private companies to earn carbon credits that can be traded on a marketplace . The protocol established the Clean Development Mechanism ( CDM ) , which validates and measures projects to ensure they produce authentic benefits and are genuinely `` additional '' activities that would not otherwise have been undertaken . Organizations that are unable to meet their emissions quota can offset their emissions by buying CDM-approved Certified Emissions Reductions . Emissions from burning fuel , such as red diesel , has pushed one UK fuel supplier to create a carbon offset fuel named Carbon Offset Red Diesel .   Offsets may be cheaper or more convenient alternatives to reducing one 's own fossil-fuel consumption . However , some critics object to carbon offsets , and question the benefits of certain types of offsets .  Due diligence is recommended to help businesses in the assessment and identification of `` good quality '' offsets to ensure offsetting provides the desired additional environmental benefits , and to avoid reputational risk associated with poor quality offsets .   Offsets are viewed as an important policy tool to maintain stable economies and to improve sustainability . One of the hidden dangers of climate change policy is unequal prices of carbon in the economy , which can cause economic collateral damage if production flows to regions or industries that have a lower price of carbon -- unless carbon can be purchased from that area , which offsets effectively permit , equalizing the price .

positive: Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer ( a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer ) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion . It was agreed on 16 September 1987 , and entered into force on 01 January 1989 , followed by a first meeting in Helsinki , May 1989 . Since then , it has undergone eight revisions , in 1990 ( London ) , 1991 ( Nairobi ) , 1992 ( Copenhagen ) , 1993 ( Bangkok ) , 1995 ( Vienna ) , 1997 ( Montreal ) , 1998 ( Australia ) , 1999 ( Beijing ) and 2016 ( Kigali , adopted , but not in force ) . As a result of the international agreement , the ozone hole in Antarctica is slowly recovering . Climate projections indicate that the ozone layer will return to 1980 levels between 2050 and 2070 . Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation , with Kofi Annan quoted as saying that `` perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol '' . In comparison , effective burden sharing and solution proposals mitigating regional conflicts of interest have been among the success factors for the ozone depletion challenge , where global regulation based on the Kyoto Protocol has failed to do so . In this case of the ozone depletion challenge , there was global regulation already being installed before a scientific consensus was established . Also , overall public opinion was convinced of possible imminent risks .   The two ozone treaties have been ratified by 197 parties , which includes 196 states and the European Union , making them the first universally ratified treaties in United Nations history .   These truly universal treaties have also been remarkable in the expedience of the policy making process at the global scale , where only 14 years lapsed between a basic scientific research discovery ( 1973 ) and the international agreement signed ( 1985 & 1987 ) .

positive: Hydrofluorocarbon Hydrofluorocarbons ( HFCs ) , organic compounds that contain fluorine and hydrogen atoms , are the most common type of organofluorine compounds . They are commonly used in air conditioning and as refrigerants in place of the older chlorofluorocarbons such as R-12 and hydrochlorofluorocarbons such as R-21 . They do not harm the ozone layer as much as the compounds they replace ; however , they do contribute to global warming . Their atmospheric concentrations and contribution to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are rapidly increasing , causing international concern about their radiative forcing .   Fluorocarbons with few C -- F bonds behave similarly to the parent hydrocarbons , but their reactivity can be altered significantly . For example , both uracil and 5-fluorouracil are colourless , high-melting crystalline solids , but the latter is a potent anti-cancer drug . The use of the C-F bond in pharmaceuticals is predicated on this altered reactivity . Several drugs and agrochemicals contain only one fluorine center or one trifluoromethyl group .   Unlike other greenhouse gases in the Paris Agreement , hydrofluorocarbons have other international negotiations .   In September 2016 , the so-called New York Declaration urged a global reduction in the use of HFCs . On 15 October 2016 , due to these chemicals ' contribution to climate change , negotiators from 197 nations meeting at the summit of the United Nations Environment Programme in Kigali , Rwanda reached a legally-binding accord to phase out hydrofluorocarbons ( HFCs ) in an amendment to the Montreal Protocol .

negative: Climate footprint The term climate footprint has emerged from the field of carbon footprinting , and refers to a measure of the full set of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) controlled under the Kyoto Protocol . A climate footprint is a more comprehensive measure of anthropogenic impact upon the climate than a carbon footprint , but is also more costly and labour-intensive to calculate .   A climate footprint is a measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) , methane ( CH4 ) , nitrous oxide ( N2O ) , hydrofluorocarbons ( HFCs ) , perfluorocarbons ( PFCs ) and sulphur hexafluoride ( SF6 ) 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 ( CO2e ) using the relevant 100-year global warming potential ( GWP100 ) .

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: Natural refrigerant Natural refrigerants are substances that are viable , environmentally sustainable , natural substitute refrigerants , used in refrigeration systems ( including refrigerators , HVAC , and air conditioning ) . They are alternatives to hydrofluorocarbon ( HFC ) , hydrochlorofluorocarbon ( HCFC ) and chlorofluorocarbon ( CFC ) based refrigerants . Unlike other refrigerants , they are not synthetic chemicals that are not ever found in nature .   HFC , HCFC , CFC classes of chemicals are all potent greenhouse gases . HCFC and CFC classes of chemicals are damaging to the ozone layer , with CFCs being a primary culprit . Natural refrigerants , though they may exist in nature , are not in themselves harmless or nontoxic .

negative: 1,2-Difluoroethane 1,2-Difluoroethane is a saturated hydrofluorocarbon containing an atom of fluorine attached to each of two carbons atoms . The formula can be written CH2FCH2F . It is an isomer of 1,1-Difluoroethane . It has a HFC name of HFC-152 with no letter suffix .  When cooled to cryogenic temperatures it can have different conformers , gauche and trans . In the liquid form these are about equally abundant and easily interconvert . As a gas it is mostly the gauche form .   In the HFC-152 designation , 2 means two fluorine atoms , 5 means 5-1 or four hydrogen atoms , and 1 means 1 +1 or two carbon atoms .

negative: 1,1,1-Trifluoroethane 1,1,1-Trifluoroethane , or R-143a or simply trifluoroethane , is a hydrofluorocarbon compound that is a clear , colorless gas . It should not be confused with the much more commonly used gas R-134a or the isomeric compound 1,1,2-trifluoroethane .   It has a critical temperature of 73 ° C.   It is used as a refrigerant either by itself or more commonly as a component of blended mixtures . Unlike CFCs used as refrigerants , trifluoroethane has no chlorine atoms and is therefore not an ozone-depleting chemical , though its high chemical stability and infra-red absorbency make it a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 4300 , higher than many other commonly used HFC refrigerants .   Trifluoroethane is also used as a propellant in canned air products used to clean electronic equipment .

negative: List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions This is a list of countries by total greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions in 2010 . It is based on data for carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , perfluorocarbon , hydrofluorocarbon , and sulfur hexafluoride emissions compiled by the World Resources Institute . The emissions data shown below do not include land-use change and forestry .

negative: 1,1-Difluoroethane 1,1-Difluoroethane , or DFE , is an organofluorine compound with the chemical formula C2H4F2 . This colorless gas is used as a refrigerant , where it is often listed as R-152a ( refrigerant-152a ) or HFC-152a ( hydrofluorocarbon-152a ) . As an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons , it has an ozone depletion potential of zero , a lower global warming potential ( 124 ) and a shorter atmospheric lifetime ( 1.4 years ) . It has recently been approved for use in automobile applications as an alternative to R-134a .

negative: Fluoromethane Fluoromethane , also known as methyl fluoride , Freon 41 , Halocarbon-41 and HFC-41 , is a non-toxic , liquefiable , and flammable gas at standard temperature and pressure . It is made of carbon , hydrogen , and fluorine . The name stems from the fact that it is methane ( CH4 ) with a fluorine atom substituted for one of the hydrogen atoms .   The compound is the lowest mass member of the hydrofluorocarbon ( HFC ) family , compounds which contain only hydrogen , fluorine , and carbon . These are related to the Chlorofluorocarbon ( CFC ) s , but since they do not contain chlorine , are not destructive to the ozone layer .   It is used in the manufacture of semiconductor and electronic products . In the presence of an RF field fluoromethane will dissociate into fluoride ions that selectively etch silicon compound films ( reactive-ion etching ) .   Fluoromethane has an agreeable ether-like odor and is also narcotic in high concentrations . Fluoromethane is highly flammable and burns in air with evolution of highly toxic hydrogen fluoride . The flame is colorless , similar to alcohol .   Bond energy of C-F is 552 kJ/mol and its length is 0.139 nm ( typically 0.14 nm ) . Its molecular geometry is tetrahedral .   Its specific heat capacity is Cp = 38.171 J.mol − 1 . K − 1 at 25 ° C. Critical point of fluoromethane is at 44.9 ° C ( 318.1 K ) and 6.280 MPa .

negative: Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide ( ERC ) is the conversion of carbon dioxide to more reduced chemical species using electrical energy . The first examples of electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide are from the 19th century , when carbon dioxide was reduced to carbon monoxide using a zinc cathode . Research in this field intensified in the 1980s following the oil embargoes of the 1970s . Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide represents a possible means of producing chemicals or fuels , converting carbon dioxide to organic feedstocks such as formic acid ( HCOOH ) , methanol ( CH3OH ) , ethylene ( C2H4 ) , methane ( CH4 ) , and carbon monoxide ( CO ) .

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: Alkaline hydrolysis (death custom) Alkaline hydrolysis ( also called biocremation and/or resomation ) is a process for the disposal of human remains which produces less carbon dioxide and pollutants than cremation . The process is being marketed as an alternative to the traditional options of burial or cremation .

negative: Organofluorine chemistry Organofluorine chemistry describes the chemistry of the organofluorines , organic compounds that contain the carbon -- fluorine bond . Organofluorine compounds find diverse applications ranging from oil and water repellents to pharmaceuticals , refrigerants , and reagents in catalysis . In addition to these applications , some organofluorine compounds are pollutants because of their contributions to ozone depletion , global warming , bioaccumulation , and toxicity . The area of organofluorine chemistry often requires special techniques associated with the handling of fluorinating agents .

negative: Bicarbonate indicator A bicarbonate indicator ( hydrogencarbonate indicator ) is a type of pH indicator that is sensitive enough to show a color change as the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in an aqueous solution increases . The indicator is used in photosynthesis and respiration experiments to find out whether carbon dioxide is being liberated . It is also used to test the carbon dioxide content during gaseous exchange of organisms . When the carbon dioxide content is higher than 0.04 % , the initial red color changes to yellow as the pH becomes more acidic . If the carbon dioxide content is lower than 0.04 % , it changes from red to magenta and , in relatively very low carbon dioxide concentrations , to purple . Carbon dioxide , even in the concentrations found in exhaled air , will dissolve in the indicator to form carbonic acid , a weak acid , which will lower the pH and give the characteristic colour change . A colour change to purple during photosynthesis shows a reduction in the percentage of carbon dioxide and is sometimes inferred as production of oxygen , but there is not actually any direct evidence for it .   Great care must be taken to avoid acidic or alkaline contamination of the apparatus in such experiments , since the test is not directly specific to carbon dioxide .

negative: Chlorodifluoromethane Chlorodifluoromethane or difluoromonochloromethane is a hydrochlorofluorocarbon ( HCFC ) . This colorless gas is better known as HCFC-22 , or R-22 . It is commonly used as a propellant and refrigerant . These applications are being phased out in developed countries due to the compound 's ozone depletion potential ( ODP ) and high global warming potential ( GWP ) , although global use of R-22 continues to increase because of high demand in developing countries . R-22 is a versatile intermediate in industrial organofluorine chemistry , e.g. as a precursor to tetrafluoroethylene . R-22 cylinders are colored light green .

negative: CO2 is Green CO2 is Green is a non-profit organization supporting public policy on environmental issues . A main focus of the organization are federal proposals that may `` interfere with natures dependence on carbon dioxide . '' CO2 is Green does not view carbon dioxide as a pollutant and advocates for federal law and regulations to support this thinking .

negative: Polyolester Polyolester oil ( POE oil ) is a type of synthetic oil used in refrigeration compressors that is compatible with the refrigerants R-134a , R-410A and R-12 . It is recommended by experts as a replacement for hydrofluorocarbons ( HFCs ) . Along with R-134a mineral oil it is recommended as a replacement for R12 mineral oil as R134a does not mix well with mineral oil . These wax-free oils are suggested for use with chlorine free HFC systems as they provide better lubrication and stability and are more miscible with HFC refrigerants . They can meet the lubricity requirements to those of mineral oils used with CFCs and HFCs . They are compatible with most lubricants in the market . It is noted that the viscosity of the oil increases with temperature . The dispersion behavior of this oil has also been the subject of a lot of study . It is also considered by some to be a good additive to engine oil .

negative: Exhaust gas Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas , gasoline , petrol , biodiesel blends , diesel fuel , fuel oil , or coal . According to the type of engine , it is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust pipe , flue gas stack , or propelling nozzle . It often disperses downwind in a pattern called an exhaust plume .   It is a major component of motor vehicle emissions ( and from stationary internal combustion engines ) , which can also include :  Crankcase blow-by  Evaporation of unused gasoline   Motor vehicle emissions contribute to air pollution and are a major ingredient in the creation of smog in some large cities . A 2013 study by MIT indicates that 53,000 early deaths occur per year in the United States alone because of vehicle emissions . According to another study from the same university , traffic fumes alone cause the death of 5,000 people every year just in the United Kingdom .

negative: Respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system , meaning that the arterial oxygen , carbon dioxide or both can not be kept at normal levels . A drop in the oxygen carried in blood is known as hypoxemia ; a rise in arterial carbon dioxide levels is called hypercapnia . Respiratory failure is classified as either Type I or Type II , based on whether there is a high carbon dioxide level . The definition of respiratory failure in clinical trials usually includes increased respiratory rate , abnormal blood gases ( hypoxemia , hypercapnia , or both ) , and evidence of increased work of breathing .   The normal partial pressure reference values are : oxygen PaO2 more than 80 mmHg , and carbon dioxide PaCO2 lesser than 45 mmHg .

negative: List of countries by carbon intensity This article lists countries by their carbon intensity . Carbon intensity is defined as a country 's annual carbon dioxide emissions divided by the country 's gross domestic product . National incomes are calculated using market exchange rates ( MER ) and purchasing power parities ( PPP ) . Units are metric tons of carbon dioxide per thousand year 2005 US dollars .

negative: History of the diesel car Diesel engines began to be used in automobiles in the 1930s . Mainly used for commercial applications early on , they did not gain popularity for passenger travel until their development in Europe in the 1960s . Diesel cars continue to develop into highly desired , high performance while retaining power and performance . In terms of pollution , diesel engines generally produce less carbon dioxide than gasoline-based engines but produce more nitrous oxides

negative: Ozone depletion and climate change Ozone depletion and climate change , or Ozone hole and global warming in more popular terms , are environmental challenges whose connections have been explored and which have been compared and contrasted , for example in terms of global regulation , in various studies and books .   There is widespread scientific interest in better regulation of climate change , ozone depletion and air pollution , as in general the human relationship with the biosphere is deemed of major historiographical and political significance . Already by 1994 the legal debates about respective regulation regimes on climate change , ozone depletion and air pollution were being dubbed `` monumental '' and a combined synopsis provided .   There are some parallels between atmospheric chemistry and anthropogenic emissions in the discussions which have taken place and the regulatory attempts which have been made . Most important is that the gases causing both problems have long lifetimes after emission to the atmosphere , thus causing problems which are difficult to reverse . However , the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol that amended it are seen as success stories , while the Kyoto Protocol on anthropogenic climate change has largely failed . Currently efforts are being undertaken to assess the reasons and to use synergies , for example with regard to data reporting and policy design and further exchanging of information . While the general public tends to see global warming as a subset of ozone depletion , in fact ozone and chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons ( CFCs ) and other halocarbons , which are held responsible for ozone depletion , are important greenhouse gasses . Furthermore , natural levels of ozone in both the stratosphere and troposphere have a warming effect .

negative: Carbon-based fuel Carbon-based fuel is any fuel principally from the oxidation or burning of carbon . Carbon-based fuels are of two main kinds , biofuels and fossil fuels . Whereas biofuels are derived from recent-growth organic matter and are typically harvested , as with logging of forests and cutting of corn , fossil fuels are of prehistoric origin and are extracted from the ground , the principal fossil fuels being oil , coal , and natural gas .   From an economic policy perspective , an important distinction between biofuels and fossil fuels is that only the former is sustainable or renewable .   Whereas we can continue to obtain energy from biofuels indefinitely in principle , the Earth 's reserves of fossil fuels was determined millions of years ago and is therefore fixed as far as our foreseeable future is concerned . The great variability in the ease of extraction of fossil fuels however makes its endgame scenario one of increasing prices over one or more centuries rather than of abrupt exhaustion .   From the perspective of climate and ecology , biofuels and fossil fuels have in common that they contribute to the production of atmospheric carbon dioxide , which has emerged in recent decades as the fastest-changing greenhouse gas , whose principal impacts are global warming and ocean acidification . However biofuels actively participate in the carbon cycle today by photosynthesizing carbon dioxide , unlike fossil fuels whose participation was long ago , and can therefore in principle bring atmospheric CO2 into an equilibrium not possible with the continued use of fossil fuel . But in practice photosynthesis is a slow process , and the additional fuel produced by artificial methods of accelerating it such as application of fertilizer tends to be offset by the energy consumed by the accelerating processes , to a degree currently under active debate . In contrast the speed of photosynthesis is immaterial for fossil fuels because they had millions of years in which to accumulate . Burning of both fossil fuels and biofuels usually also produces carbon monoxide , which is toxic and can kill a person after mixing with the haemoglobin of the blood , increasing its concentration in the body . Biofuels and fossil fuels may also produce many other air pollutants depending on the contents of the fuel .

negative: Trifluoromethyl sulphur pentafluoride Trifluoromethyl sulphur pentafluoride , CF3SF5 , is a rare industrial greenhouse gas , first published in 2000 by a group of researchers from Germany , the United Kingdom and the United States . Trifluoromethyl sulphur pentafluoride is considered to be one of the several super greenhouse gases . On a per molecule basis , it is considered to be the most potent greenhouse gas present in Earth 's atmosphere . However , the current concentration of Trifluoromethyl sulphur pentafluoride remains at a level that is unlikely to measurably contribute to earth 's warming . The source of the gas is attributed to anthropogenic sources , possibly a by-product of the manufacture of fluorochemicals , originating from reactions of SF6 with fluoropolymers used in electronic devices and in microchips , or the formation can be associated with high voltage equipment created from SF6 ( a breakdown product of high voltage equipment ) reacting with CF3 to form the CF3SF5 molecule .

negative: Capnophile Capnophiles are microorganisms that thrive in the presence of high concentrations of carbon dioxide .   Some capnophiles may have a metabolic requirement for carbon dioxide , while others merely compete more successfully for resources under these conditions . The term is a generally descriptive one and has less relevance as a means of establishing a taxonomic or evolutionary relationship among organisms with this characteristic .   For example , the ability of capnophiles to tolerate ( or utilize ) the amount of oxygen that is also in their environment may vary widely and may be far more critical to their survival . Species of Campylobacter are bacterial capnophiles that are more easily identified because they are also microaerophiles , organisms that can grow in high carbon dioxide as long as a small amount of free oxygen is present , but at a dramatically reduced concentration . ( In the earth 's atmosphere carbon dioxide levels are approximately five hundred times lower than that of oxygen , 0.04 % and 21 % of the total , respectively . ) Obligate anaerobes are microbes that will die in the presence of oxygen without respect to the concentration of carbon dioxide in their environment , and typically acquire energy through anaerobic respiration , or fermentation ( biochemistry ) .   In 2004 , a capnophilic bacterium was characterized that appears to require carbon dioxide . This organism , Mannheimia succiniciproducens , has a unique metabolism involving carbon fixation . While carbon fixation is common to most plant life on earth since it is the key initial step in the biosynthesis of complex carbon compounds during photosynthesis ( the Calvin cycle ) , it is found in relatively few microorganisms and not found in animals . Mannheimia succiniciproducens can attach carbon dioxide to the three-carbon backbone of phosphoenolpyruvate , an endproduct in glycolysis , to generate the four-carbon compound , oxaloacetic acid , an intermediate in the Krebs cycle . Although Mannheimia succiniciproducens has most of the intermediates in the Krebs cycle , it is not capable of oxidative phosphorylation , the final step in the electron transport chain that would allow it to carry out the highly efficient process of harvesting energy by aerobic respiration .

negative: Pentafluoroethane Pentafluoroethane is a refrigerant with the formula CF3CHF2 . Although it has zero ozone depletion potential , it has high global warming potential , reported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) as 3450 times that of carbon dioxide .   Pentafluoroethane in a near zeotropic mixture with difluoromethane is known as R-410A , a common replacement for various chlorofluorocarbons ( commonly known as Freon ) in new refrigerant systems . Pentafluoroethane is also used as a fire suppression agent in fire suppression systems .

negative: 1,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene 1,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene ( HFO-1234ze ) is a hydrofluoroolefin . It was developed as a `` fourth generation '' refrigerant to replace R-134a and as a blowing agent for foam and aerosol applications . The use of R-134a is being phased out because of its high global-warming potential . HFO-1234ze has zero ozone-depletion potential ( ODP = 0 ) and a very low global-warming potential ( GWP < 1 ) , even lower than CO2 .

negative: 2,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene 2,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene , or HFO-1234yf , is a hydrofluoroolefin ( HFO ) with the formula CH2 = CFCF3 . This colorless gas has been proposed as a replacement for R-134a as a refrigerant in automobile air conditioners .   HFO-1234yf is the first in a new class of refrigerants acquiring a global warming potential ( GWP ) rating one 335th that of R-134a ( and only 4 times higher than carbon dioxide , which can also be used as a refrigerant but which has properties significantly different from those of R134a , especially requiring operation at around 5 times higher pressure ) and an atmospheric lifetime of about 400 times shorter .

negative: HEGA HEGA is an acronym for `` High Efficiency Gas Absorption '' . Originally developed by the British military as a defense against chemical warfare , HEGA is a carbon cloth filter . This carbon cloth has been claimed to be many times more efficient than the granular activated carbon form at adsorption of gaseous pollutants . With its light weight and easy workability , HEGA filters are now used in some residential air purifiers .

negative: Cofiring Co-firing is the combustion of two different types of materials at the same time . One of the advantages of co-firing is that an existing plant can be used to burn a new fuel , which may be cheaper or more environmentally friendly . For example , biomass is sometimes co-fired in existing coal plants instead of new biomass plants . Co-firing can also be used to improve the combustion of fuels with low energy content . For example , landfill gas contains a large amount of carbon dioxide , which is non-combustible . If the landfill gas is burned without removing the carbon dioxide , the equipment may not perform properly or emissions of pollutants may increase . Co-firing it with natural gas increases the heat content of the fuel and improves combustion and equipment performance . As long as the electricity or heat produced with the biomass and landfill gas was otherwise going to be produced with non-renewable fuels , the benefits are essentially equivalent whether they are cofired or combusted alone . Also , co-firing can be used to lower the emission of some pollutants . For example , co-firing biomass with coal results in less sulfur emissions than burning coal by itself .

negative: Carbon shifting Carbon shifting is the tendency for an individual to increase carbon dioxide emissions in one area of their lifestyle as a result of reducing emissions elsewhere .   ` Carbon shifting ' might more accurately be termed ` domestic carbon shifting ' to distinguish it from carbon leakage which has occasionally also been called carbon shifting .   Many attempts to encourage people to change aspects of their lifestyle and so reduce their carbon dioxide emissions make a virtue of the financial savings . In the United Kingdom the Energy Saving Trust lists various ways of saving energy , e.g. `` Energy saving light bulbs last up to 12 times longer than ordinary lightbulbs and can save you # 9 per year in electricity ( and 38 kilograms of ) or # 100 over the bulbs lifetime . '' However , whether or not carbon dioxide emissions are ultimately reduced will depend on how that saved money is spent . If the amount of money saved through walking to work is eventually spent on an extra city break involving air travel the net emissions may well increase .   The problem of carbon shifting may undermine many voluntary piecemeal attempts at reducing carbon dioxide emissions . However , carbon shifting is not inherently negative . If a person can be persuaded to avoid activities that produce a high level of emissions for a given financial outlay then they may shift to activities that produce lower emissions for that same amount of money . Positive carbon shifting might be encouraged through the use of a carbon tax or the implementation of a Personal carbon trading scheme .   The phenomenon of carbon shifting also suggests that for some comparative purposes the most appropriate measure of emissions would be emissions per unit of currency rather than total emissions . An activity that produces slightly lower emissions at a significantly lower cost may not necessarily be the best activity to promote as it leaves the individual with more money to spend on other emitting activities . Similarly , if two passengers are traveling on the same aircraft they might be deemed to be emitting the same total amount of carbon dioxide . However , if one of them paid a lower fare then , by this measure , they would be deemed to be damaging the environment more .

negative: Carbon emission trading Carbon emissions trading is a form of emissions trading that specifically targets carbon dioxide ( calculated in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or tCO2e ) and it currently constitutes the bulk of emissions trading .   This form of permit trading is a common method countries utilize in order to meet their obligations specified by the Kyoto Protocol ; namely the reduction of carbon emissions in an attempt to reduce ( mitigate ) future climate change .   Under Carbon trading , a country having more emissions of carbon is able to purchase the right to emit more and the country having less emission trades the right to emit carbon to other countries . More carbon emitting countries , by this way try to keep the limit of carbon emission specified to them .


query: Had he used the currently accepted value of approximately 3°C warming for a doubling of atmospheric CO2, Hansen would have correctly projected the ensuing global warming.

positive: James Hansen James Edward Hansen ( born 29 March 1941 ) is an American adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University . He is best known for his research in climatology , his 1988 Congressional testimony on climate change that helped raise broad awareness of global warming , and his advocacy of action to avoid dangerous climate change . In recent years he has become a climate activist to mitigate the effects of climate change , on a few occasions leading to his arrest .   In 2000 , Hansen advanced an alternative view of global warming over the last 100 years , arguing that during that time frame the negative forcing via aerosols and the positive forcing via largely balanced each other out , and that the 0.74 ± 0.18 ° C net rise in average global temperatures could mostly be explained by greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide , such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons . However , even then he wrote `` the future balance of forcings is likely to shift toward dominance of CO2 over aerosols ''

positive: Greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet 's atmosphere warms the planet 's surface to a temperature above what it would be without its atmosphere .   If a planet 's atmosphere contains radiatively active gases ( i.e. , greenhouse gases ) the atmosphere will radiate energy in all directions . Part of this radiation is directed towards the surface , warming it . The downward component of this radiation -- that is , the strength of the greenhouse effect -- will depend on the atmosphere 's temperature and on the amount of greenhouse gases that the atmosphere contains .   On Earth , the atmosphere is warmed by absorption of infrared thermal radiation from the underlying surface ( heated by the sun ) , absorption of shorter wavelength radiant energy from the sun , and convective heat fluxes from the surface . Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere radiate energy , some of which is directed to the surface and lower atmosphere . The mechanism that produces this difference between the actual surface temperature and the effective temperature is due to the atmosphere and is known as the greenhouse effect .   Earth 's natural greenhouse effect is critical to supporting life . Human activities , primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests , have intensified the natural greenhouse effect , causing global warming .   The mechanism is named after a faulty analogy with the effect of solar radiation passing through glass and warming a greenhouse . The way a greenhouse retains heat is fundamentally different , as a greenhouse works by reducing airflow and retaining warm air inside the structure .

negative: Global warming (disambiguation) Global warming is one of the common names for the current change in Earth 's climate .   Global warming may also refer to :  Global Warming ( Pitbull album ) , a 2011 music album by Pitbull  Global Warming ( Sonny Rollins album ) , a 1998 music album by Sonny Rollins  Global warming game , several games based on the concept   Not to be confused with the Global warming controversy , which refers to the public debate over scientific conclusions on climate change .

negative: 350.org 350 . org is an international environmental organization encouraging citizens to action with the belief that publicizing the increasing levels of carbon dioxide will pressure world leaders to address climate change and to reduce levels from 400 parts per million to 350 parts per million . It was founded by author Bill McKibben with the goal of building a global grassroots movement to raise awareness about human-driven climate change , to confront climate change denial , and to cut emissions of carbon dioxide in order to slow the rate of global warming . 350 . org takes its name from the research of Goddard Institute for Space Studies scientist James E. Hansen , who posited in a 2007 paper that 350 parts-per-million ( ppm ) of CO2 in the atmosphere is a safe upper limit to avoid a climate tipping point .

negative: Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change : A Scientific Symposium on Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gases was a 2005 international conference that examined the link between atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration , and the 2 ° C ( 3.6 ° F ) ceiling on global warming thought necessary to avoid the most serious effects of global warming . Previously this had generally been accepted as being 550 ppm .   The conference took place under the United Kingdom 's presidency of the G8 , with the participation of around 200 ` internationally renowned ' scientists from 30 countries . It was chaired by Dennis Tirpak and hosted by the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter , from 1 February to 3 February .

negative: Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years Unstoppable Global Warming : Every 1,500 Years is a book about climate change , written by Siegfried Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery , which asserts that natural changes , and not CO2 emissions , are the cause of Global Warming . Published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2006 , the book sold well and was reprinted in an updated edition in 2007 .   The title refers to the hypothesis of 1,500-year climate cycles in the Holocene first postulated by Gerard C. Bond , mainly based on petrologic tracers of drift ice in the North Atlantic .

negative: Economics of global warming The economics of global warming concerns the economic aspects of global warming ; this can inform policies that governments might consider in response . A number of factors make this a difficult problem from both economic and political perspectives : it is a long-term , intergenerational problem ; benefits and costs are distributed unequally both within and across countries ; and scientific and public opinions may diverge .   One of the most important greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide . Around 20 % of carbon dioxide which is emitted due to human activities can remain in the atmosphere for many thousands of years . The long time scales and uncertainty associated with global warming have led analysts to develop `` scenarios '' of future environmental , social and economic changes . These scenarios can help governments understand the potential consequences of their decisions .   The impacts of climate change include the loss of biodiversity , sea level rise , increased frequency and severity of some extreme weather events , and acidification of the oceans . Economists have attempted to quantify these impacts in monetary terms , but these assessments can be controversial .   The two main policy responses to global warming are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ( climate change mitigation ) and to adapt to the impacts of global warming ( e.g. , by building levees in response to sea level rise ) . Another policy response which has recently received greater attention is geoengineering of the climate system ( e.g. injecting aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth 's surface ) .   One of the responses to the uncertainties of global warming is to adopt a strategy of sequential decision making . This strategy recognizes that decisions on global warming need to be made with incomplete information , and that decisions in the near term will have potentially long-term impacts . Governments might choose to use risk management as part of their policy response to global warming . For instance , a risk-based approach can be applied to climate impacts which are difficult to quantify in economic terms , e.g. , the impacts of global warming on indigenous peoples .   Analysts have assessed global warming in relation to sustainable development . Sustainable development considers how future generations might be affected by the actions of the current generation . In some areas , policies designed to address global warming may contribute positively towards other development objectives . In other areas , the cost of global warming policies may divert resources away from other socially and environmentally beneficial investments ( the opportunity costs of climate change policy ) .

negative: Veerabhadran Ramanathan Veerabhadran Ramanathan ( Tamil : வீரபத்ரன் இராமநாதன் ) is Victor Alderson Professor of Applied Ocean Sciences and director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography , University of California , San Diego . He has contributed to many areas of the atmospheric sciences including developments to general circulation models , atmospheric chemistry , and radiative transfer . He has been a part of major projects such as the Indian Ocean Experiment ( INDOEX ) and the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment ( ERBE ) , and is known for his contributions to the area of atmospheric aerosol research . He has received numerous awards , and is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences . He has spoken about the topic of global warming , and written that `` the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming is , in my opinion , the most important environmental issue facing the world today . ''

negative: Patrick Michaels Patrick J. ( `` Pat '' ) Michaels ( born February 15 , 1950 ) is an American climatologist . Michaels is a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute . Until 2007 he was research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia , where he had worked from 1980 .   A self-described skeptic on the issue of global warming , he is a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists . He has written a number of books and papers on climate change , including Sound and Fury : The Science and Politics of Global Warming ( 1992 ) , The Satanic Gases ( 2000 ) , and Meltdown : The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists , Politicians , and the Media ( 2004 ) . He 's also the co-author of Climate of Extremes : Global Warming Science They Do n't Want You to Know ( 2009 ) . Michaels ' viewpoint , as argued in a 2002 article in the journal Climate Research , is that the planet will see `` a warming range of 1.3 -- 3.0 ° C , with a central value of 1.9 ° C '' for the 1990 to 2100 period ( an analysis far smaller than the IPCC 's average predictions ) .

negative: Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (SR15) was published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 8 October 2018. The report, approved in Incheon, South Korea, includes over 6,000 scientific references, and was prepared by 91 authors from 40 countries. In December 2015, the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference called for the report. The report was delivered at the United Nations' 48th session of the IPCC to "deliver the authoritative, scientific guide for governments" to deal with climate change.Its key finding is that meeting a 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) target is possible but would require "deep emissions reductions" and "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society." Furthermore, the report finds that "limiting global warming to 1.5 °C compared with 2 °C would reduce challenging impacts on ecosystems, human health and well-being" and that a 2 °C temperature increase would exacerbate extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, coral bleaching, and loss of ecosystems, among other impacts. SR15 also has modelling that shows that, for global warming to be limited to 1.5 °C, "Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching 'net zero' around 2050." The reduction of emissions by 2030 and its associated changes and challenges, including rapid decarbonisation, was a key focus on much of the reporting which was repeated through the world.

negative: Solar radiation management Solar radiation management ( SRM ) projects are a type of climate engineering which seek to reflect sunlight and thus reduce global warming . Proposed examples include the creation of stratospheric sulfate aerosols . Their principal advantages as an approach to climate engineering is the speed with which they can be deployed and become fully active , their potential low financial cost , and the reversibility of their direct climatic effects . Solar radiation management projects could , for example , be used as a temporary response while levels of greenhouse gases can be brought under control by mitigation and greenhouse gas removal techniques . They would not reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere , and thus do not address problems such as ocean acidification caused by excess carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) .

negative: Global Warming: What You Need to Know Global Warming What You Need to Know is a 2006 global warming ( climate change ) documentary , directed by Nicolas Brown , starring Tom Brokaw , James Hansen , Michael Oppenheimer , and Mark Serreze . The film focuses on impacts from climate change , and Tom Brokaw interviews scientists . The documentary premiered on Discovery Channel , 16 July 2006 .

negative: Bølling-Allerød warming The Bølling-Allerød interstadial was an abrupt warm and moist interstadial period that occurred during the final stages of the last glacial period . This warm period ran from c. 14,700 to c. 12,700 years before the present ( BP ) . It began with the end of the cold period known as the Oldest Dryas , and ended abruptly with the onset of the Younger Dryas , a cold period that reduced temperatures back to near-glacial levels within a decade .   In some regions , a cold period known as the Older Dryas can be detected in the middle of the Bølling-Allerød interstadial . In these regions the period is divided into the Bølling oscillation , which peaked around 14,500 BP , and the Allerød oscillation , which peaked closer to 13,000 BP .   Estimates of CO2 rise are 20 -- 35 ppmv within 200 years , a rate less than 29 -- 50 % compared to the anthropogenic global warming signal from the past 50 years , and with a radiative forcing of 0.59 -- 0.75 W m − 2 .

negative: NYC: Tornado Terror NYC : Tornado Terror is a 2008 Canadian made for TV disaster film . It stars Nicole de Boer , Sebastian Spence , and Jerry Wasserman . It premiered on Syfy on October 4 , 2008 , and is directed by Tibor Takács .   The film is about global warming which causes the upper and lower atmosphere to separate so that their different movements generate huge electrical charges which causes huge electrical tornadoes to drop on New York City causing destruction and loss of life . Dr. Cassie Lawrence tries to stop the twisters as chaos ensues . NASA ignores the mayor who recommends following Dr. Lawrence 's advice and use silver iodide on the atmosphere instead , which makes things worse , so it is down to our heroes to use a rebel scientist with his own makeshift rockets to use dry ice ( frozen CO2 ) . The problem is solved , but before the film ends , the same storm effects begin in Paris .

negative: 1,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene 1,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene ( HFO-1234ze ) is a hydrofluoroolefin . It was developed as a `` fourth generation '' refrigerant to replace R-134a and as a blowing agent for foam and aerosol applications . The use of R-134a is being phased out because of its high global-warming potential . HFO-1234ze has zero ozone-depletion potential ( ODP = 0 ) and a very low global-warming potential ( GWP < 1 ) , even lower than CO2 .

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: Revelle factor The Revelle factor ( buffer factor ) is the ratio of instantaneous change in carbon dioxide to the change in total dissolved inorganic carbon ( DIC ) , and is a measure of the resistance to atmospheric CO2 being absorbed by the ocean surface layer . The buffer factor is used to examine the distribution of CO2 between the atmosphere and the ocean , and measures the amount of CO2 that can be dissolved in the mixed surface layer . It is named after the oceanographer Roger Revelle , who was one of the first scientists to study global warming .   Revelle factor = / ( Δ -LSB- DIC -RSB- / -LSB- DIC -RSB- ) where DIC is dissolved inorganic carbon . Δ -LSB- -RSB- / -LSB- -RSB- is the instantaneous change in p and Δ -LSB- DIC -RSB- / -LSB- DIC -RSB- is the instantaneous change in DIC .

negative: Polar amplification Polar amplification is the phenomenon that any change in the net radiation balance ( for example greenhouse intensification ) tends to produce a larger change in temperature near the poles than the planetary average . On a planet with an atmosphere that can restrict longwave radiation to space ( a greenhouse effect ) , surface temperatures will be warmer than a simple planetary equilibrium temperature calculation would predict . Where the atmosphere or an extensive ocean is able to convect heat polewards , the poles will be warmer and equatorial regions cooler than their local net radiation balances would predict .   In the extreme , the planet Venus is thought to have experienced a very large increase in greenhouse effect over its lifetime , so much so that its poles have warmed sufficiently to render its surface temperature effectively isothermal ( no difference between poles and equator ) . On Earth , water vapor and trace gasses provide a lesser greenhouse effect , and the atmosphere and extensive oceans provide efficient poleward heat transport . Both palaeoclimate changes and recent global warming changes have exhibited strong polar amplification , as described below .

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: Hurricane Katrina and global warming The tremendous destruction caused by recent Atlantic Ocean tropical cyclones , such as Hurricanes Katrina , Wilma , and Sandy caused a substantial upsurge in interest in the subject of global warming by news media and the wider public , and concerns that global climatic change may have played a significant role in those events . Time Magazine , for example , published an article titled , `` Is Global Warming Fueling Katrina ? '' -- however , the article itself addressed hurricanes in general , rather than Katrina specifically , and was inconclusive .   Shortly after the hurricane , former Boston Globe reporter Ross Gelbspan wrote an op-ed piece for the Globe titled , `` Katrina 's Real Name '' , declaring that the hurricane 's `` real name is global warming . '' Gelbspan went on to assert :  `` Although Katrina began as a relatively small hurricane that glanced off south Florida , it was supercharged with extraordinary intensity by the relatively blistering sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico . ''  Gelbspan did not single out Katrina from other recent storms in that regard ; in the article he went on to attribute other major weather events over the preceding year to global warming , including a blizzard in Los Angeles , high winds in Scandinavia , wildfires in Spain , and a drought centered in Missouri .   Britain 's then deputy prime minister , John Prescott , has linked Katrina with global warming , and statements made shortly after the hurricane by Germany 's environment minister , Jürgen Trittin , indicate he believes that global warming is responsible for an increase in the frequency of destructive natural events .   Kerry Emanuel had recently published a paper in the journal Nature that found a good correlation between hurricane intensity and sea surface temperatures . Some journalists have claimed Emanuel 's paper concludes that the recent increase in intense Atlantic storms is due to global warming , but Emanuel stated that `` it would be absurd to attribute the Katrina disaster to global warming '' .   The Internet blog RealClimate has written that `` there is no way to prove that Katrina either was , or was not , affected by global warming '' .

negative: Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change is a 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) non-profit organization based in Tempe , Arizona . The Center produces a weekly online science newsletter called CO2Science .   The Center was founded and is run by Craig D. Idso , along with Sherwood B. Idso , his father , and Keith E. Idso , his brother . They came from backgrounds in agriculture and climate . According to the Idsos , they became involved in the global warming controversy through their study of earth 's temperature sensitivity to radiative perturbations and plant responses to elevated CO2 levels and carbon sequestration . The Center sharply disputes the consensus scientific opinion on climate change shown in IPCC assessment reports , and believes that global warming will be beneficial to mankind .

negative: Seasonal Attribution Project The Seasonal Attribution Project is a Climateprediction.net sub-project , with support from the WWF . It runs a high resolution model in order to try to determine the extent to which extreme weather events are attributable to human-induced global warming .   The project did cease giving out more work , however there has been a project extension to try a fourth sea surface temperature pattern . Current work will still be accepted and used for collaborations and possibly revisions of papers during the review process .   A further extension will start soon .

negative: Hubbert curve The Hubbert curve is an approximation of the production rate of a resource over time . It is a symmetric logistic distribution curve , often confused with the `` normal '' gaussian function . It first appeared in `` Nuclear Energy and the Fossil Fuels , '' geologist M. King Hubbert 's 1956 presentation to the American Petroleum Institute , as an idealized symmetric curve , during his tenure at the Shell Oil Company . It has gained a high degree of popularity in the scientific community for predicting the depletion of various natural resources . The curve is the main component of Hubbert peak theory , which has led to the rise of peak oil concerns .   Basing his calculations on the peak of oil well discovery in 1948 , Hubbert used his model in 1956 to create a curve which accurately predicted that oil production in the contiguous United States would peak around 1970 .

negative: 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: Charles M. Hansen Dr. Charles Medom Hansen ( Louisville , Kentucky , 1938 ) is an American-born scientist with Danish ancestry who is now a Danish citizen living in the Copenhagen area .   After a degree ( 1961 , Louisville ) and Masters ( 1962 , Wisconsin ) in chemical engineering , Hansen worked for his PhD at the Technical University of Denmark , initially on the problems of solvent retention in polymers , starting his life-time interest in diffusion science . However , the problems of predicting the compatibility of solvents with polymers took over , leading him to overcome the problems of the then-popular Hildebrand solubility parameter by dividing Hildebrand 's single parameter into three components : dispersion , polar and hydrogen bonding . His 1967 doctoral thesis ( Dr. techn . ) provided the basis for what came to be called Hansen solubility parameters , or HSPs . In addition to providing a theoretical framework , the thesis provided the first working set of HSP values for common solvents and for a range of commercial polymers , making it of immediate practical use to academia and industry .   His theories were put to immediate use during his 8 years ( 1968 -- 76 ) at the R/D Center , PPG Industries in Pittsburgh where the universality of HSP became apparent as they were shown to work equally well for problems such as optimising the compatibility of pigments within paint and ink formulations . Gradually they became adopted more widely as shown by the cumulative graph of Google Scholar citations for the phrase `` Hansen Solubility Parameter '' .   He was Director of the Scandinavian Paint & Printing Ink Research Institute in Hørsholm , Denmark from 1976 to 1985 , a Senior Scientist at Hempel Group from 1985 to 1987 , then Senior Scientist at FORCE Technology , Copenhagen from 1988 to 2004 . Upon retirement he became , and remains , an independent consultant .   In addition to over 130 published papers and 8 patents ( h-index 25 ) , he authored Hansen Solubility Parameters -- A User 's Handbook in 1999 followed by an expanded 2nd Edition in 2007 . With Abbott and Yamamoto he authored the package of software , eBook and datasets called Hansen Solubility Parameters in Practice , in 2008 which is currently in its 5th Edition .

negative: Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project ( DDPP ) is a global consortium formed in October 2013 which researches methods to limit the rise of global temperature due to global warming to 2 ° C or less . The focus of the DDPP is on sustainable energy systems , other sectors of the economy , such as agriculture and land-use , are not directly considered .

negative: World Wide Views on Global Warming World Wide Views on Global Warming : A global project initiated by The Danish Board of Technology on the occasion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference ( COP15 ) held in Copenhagen December 2009 .   World Wide Views on Global Warming ( or just WWViews ) was an international citizens involvement project based on methods developed by The Danish Board of Technology for the purpose of involving citizens in the political decision-making processes .

negative: Runaway greenhouse effect A runaway greenhouse effect is a process in which a net positive feedback between surface temperature and atmospheric opacity increases the strength of the greenhouse effect on a planet until its oceans boil away . An example of this is believed to have happened in the early history of Venus . On the Earth , the IPCC states that `` a ` runaway greenhouse effect ' -- analogous to -LSB- that of -RSB- Venus -- appears to have virtually no chance of being induced by anthropogenic activities . ''   Other large-scale climate changes are sometimes loosely called a `` runaway greenhouse effect '' although it is not an appropriate description . For example , it has been hypothesized that large releases of greenhouse gases may have occurred concurrently with the Permian -- Triassic extinction event or Paleocene -- Eocene Thermal Maximum . Other terms , such as `` abrupt climate change '' , or tipping points could be used when describing such scenarios .

negative: 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane , R-134a , Freon 134a , Forane 134a , Genetron 134a , Florasol 134a , Suva 134a or HFC-134a , also known as norflurane ( INN ) , is a haloalkane refrigerant with thermodynamic properties similar to R-12 ( dichlorodifluoromethane ) but with insignificant ozone depletion potential and a somewhat lower global warming potential ( 1300 , compared to R-12 's GWP of 2400 ) . It has the formula CH2FCF3 and a boiling point of − 26.3 ° C ( − 15.34 ° F ) at atmospheric pressure . R-134a cylinders are colored light blue . Attempts at phasing out its use as a refrigerant with substances that have lower global warming potentials , such as HFO-1234yf are underway .

negative: Global warming hiatus A global warming hiatus , also sometimes referred to as a global warming pause or a global warming slowdown , is a period of relatively little change in globally averaged surface temperatures . In the current episode of global warming many such 15-year periods appear in the surface temperature record , along with robust evidence of the long-term warming trend ; climate is classically averaged over 30-year periods .   Publicity has surrounded claims of a global warming hiatus during the period 1998 -- 2013 . The exceptionally warm El Niño year of 1998 was an outlier from the continuing temperature trend , and so subsequent annual temperatures gave the appearance of a hiatus : by January 2006 , it appeared to some that global warming had stopped or paused . A 2009 study showed that decades without warming were not exceptional , and in 2011 a study showed that if allowances were made for known variability , the rising temperature trend continued unabated . There was increased public interest in 2013 in the run-up to publication of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report , and despite concerns that a 15-year period was too short to determine a meaningful trend , the IPCC included a section on a hiatus , which it defined as a much smaller increasing linear trend over the 15 years from 1998 to 2012 , than over the 60 years from 1951 to 2012 . Various studies examined possible causes of the short-term slowdown . Even though the overall climate system has continued to accumulate energy due to Earth 's positive energy budget , the available temperature readings at the Earth 's surface indicate slower rates of increase in surface warming than in the prior decade . Since measurements at the top of the atmosphere show that Earth is receiving more energy than it is radiating back into space , the retained energy should be producing warming in the Earth 's climate system .   Research reported in July 2015 on an updated NOAA dataset casts doubt on the existence of a hiatus , and it finds no indication of a slowdown even in earlier years . Scientists working on other datasets welcomed this study , though they have expressed the view that the recent warming trend was less than in previous periods of the same length . Subsequently , a detailed study supports the conclusion that warming is continuing , but it also find there was less warming between 2001 and 2010 than climate models had predicted , and that this slowdown might be attributed to short-term variations in the Pacific decadal oscillation ( PDO ) , which was negative during that period . Another review finds `` no substantive evidence '' of a pause in global warming . A statistical study of global temperature data since 1970 concludes that the term ` hiatus ' or ` pause ' is not justified .   Independent of these discussions about data and measurements for earlier years , 2015 turned out to be much warmer than any of the earlier years , already before El Niño conditions started . The warmth of 2015 largely ended any remaining scientific credibility of claims that the supposed `` hiatus '' since 1998 had any significance for the long-term warming trend . In January 2017 , a study published in the journal Science Advances cast further doubt on the existence of a recent pause , with more evidence that ocean temperatures have been underestimated . An April 2017 study found the data consistent with a steady warming trend globally since the 1970s , with fluctuations within the expected range of short term variability .

negative: Debate over China's economic responsibilities for climate change mitigation This article documents the debate over China 's economic responsibilities for climate change mitigation and mitigation of climate change in China .   Both internationally and within the People 's Republic of China , there has been an ongoing debate over China 's responsibilities , particularly since 2006 , when China surpassed the US as the country with the highest emissions rate for the main atmospheric gas in global warming , carbon dioxide ( CO2 )

negative: Adaptation to global warming in Australia

negative: Global temperature In its AR4 , WG1 report , Chapter3 , the IPCC explains global temperature in these words :