query: The worsening of tidal flooding in American coastal communities is largely a consequence of greenhouse gases from human activity, and the problem will grow far worse in coming decades, scientists reported Monday.

positive: Effects of global warming The effects of global warming are the environmental and social changes caused ( directly or indirectly ) by human emissions of greenhouse gases . There is a scientific consensus that climate change is occurring , and that human activities are the primary driver . Many impacts of climate change have already been observed , including glacier retreat , changes in the timing of seasonal events ( e.g. , earlier flowering of plants ) , and changes in agricultural productivity .   Future effects of climate change will vary depending on climate change policies and social development . The two main policies to address climate change are reducing human greenhouse gas emissions ( climate change mitigation ) and adapting to the impacts of climate change . Geoengineering is another policy option .   Near-term climate change policies could significantly affect long-term climate change impacts . Stringent mitigation policies might be able to limit global warming ( in 2100 ) to around 2 ° C or below , relative to pre-industrial levels . Without mitigation , increased energy demand and extensive use of fossil fuels might lead to global warming of around 4 ° C. Higher magnitudes of global warming would be more difficult to adapt to , and would increase the risk of negative impacts .

positive: 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.

positive: Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly .   Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. .  Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century .   Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems .

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: IPCC First Assessment Report The First Assessment Report ( FAR ) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) was completed in 1990 . It served as the basis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) .   The report was issued in three main sections , corresponding to the three Working Groups of scientists that the IPCC had established .   Working Group I : Scientific Assessment of Climate Change , edited by J.T. Houghton , G.J. Jenkins and J.J. Ephraums  Working Group II : Impacts Assessment of Climate Change , edited by W.J. McG . Tegart , G.W. Sheldon and D.C. Griffiths  Working Group III : The IPCC Response Strategies   Each section included a summary for policymakers . This format was followed in subsequent Assessment Reports .   The executive summary of the policymakers ' summary of the WG I report includes :   We are certain of the following : there is a natural greenhouse effect ... ; emissions resulting from human activities are substantially increasing the atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases : CO2 , methane , CFCs and nitrous oxide . These increases will enhance the greenhouse effect , resulting on average in an additional warming of the Earth 's surface . The main greenhouse gas , water vapour , will increase in response to global warming and further enhance it .  We calculate with confidence that : ... CO2 has been responsible for over half the enhanced greenhouse effect ; long-lived gases would require immediate reductions in emissions from human activities of over 60 % to stabilise their concentrations at today 's levels ...  Based on current models , we predict : under -LSB- BAU -RSB- increase of global mean temperature during the -LSB- 21st -RSB- century of about 0.3 oC per decade ( with an uncertainty range of 0.2 to 0.5 oC per decade ) ; this is greater than that seen over the past 10,000 years ; under other ... scenarios which assume progressively increasing levels of controls , rates of increase in global mean temperature of about 0.2 oC -LSB- to -RSB- about 0.1 oC per decade .  There are many uncertainties in our predictions particularly with regard to the timing , magnitude and regional patterns of climate change , due to our incomplete understanding of : sources and sinks of GHGs ; clouds ; oceans ; polar ice sheets .  Our judgement is that : global mean surface air temperature has increased by 0.3 to 0.6 oC over the last 100 years ... ; The size of this warming is broadly consistent with predictions of climate models , but it is also of the same magnitude as natural climate variability . Thus the observed increase could be largely due to this natural variability ; alternatively this variability and other human factors could have offset a still larger human-induced greenhouse warming . The unequivocal detection of the enhanced greenhouse effect is not likely for a decade or more .  under the IPCC business as usual emissions scenario , an average rate of global mean sea level rise of about 6 cm per decade over the next century ( with an uncertainty range of 3 -- 10 cm per decade ) , mainly due to thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of some land ice . The predicted rise is about 20 cm ... by 2030 , and 65 cm by the end of the next century .

negative: Carbon emissions reporting Human activities continue to impact Earth 's climate through the emission of greenhouse gases . One of the proposed ways to combat this climate change is through reporting by businesses on the impact of their activities . Large power stations and manufacturing plants are often required to report their emissions to appropriate government entities , for example to the European Union as part of the Emissions Trading System or to the US EPA as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program . In the United Kingdom , Department for Environment , Food and Rural Affairs ( Defra ) has described climate change as the `` greatest environmental challenge facing the world today , '' and it is now a legal requirement for all quoted companies to report their annual greenhouse gas emissions .

negative: Criticism of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report ( AR4 ) is a report on climate change created with the help of a large number of contributors , both scientists and governmental representatives . There has been considerable political controversy over a small number of errors found in the report , and there have been calls for review of the process used to formulate the report . The overwhelming majority view of scientists with expertise in climate change is that errors , when found , are corrected , and the issues as identified do not undermine the conclusions of the report that the climate system is warming in response to increased levels of greenhouse gases , largely due to human activities .

negative: 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 .

negative: 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: Carbon project A carbon project refers to a business initiative that receives funding because of the cut the emission of greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) that will result . To prove that the project will result in real , permanent , verifiable reductions in Greenhouse Gases , proof must be provided in the form of a project design document and activity reports validated by an approved third party in the case of Clean Development Mechanism ( CDM ) or Joint Implementation ( JI ) projects .

negative: Cap and Share Cap and Share was originally developed by Feasta ( the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability ) and is a regulatory and economic framework for controlling the use of fossil fuels in relation to climate stabilisation . Accepting that climate change is a global problem and that there is a need to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally , the philosophy of Cap and Share maintains that the earth 's atmosphere is a fundamental common resource . Consequently , it is argued , each individual should get an equal share of the benefits from the limited amount of fossil fuels that will have to be burned and their emissions released into the atmosphere in the period until the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases has been stabilised at a safe level .

negative: IPCC list of greenhouse gases This is a list of LLGHG ( long-lived greenhouse gases ) greenhouse gases as used by the IPCC TAR .

negative: Land use, land-use change and forestry Land use , land-use change and forestry ( LULUCF ) is defined by the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat as a `` greenhouse gas inventory sector that covers emissions and removals of greenhouse gases resulting from direct human-induced land use , land-use change and forestry activities . ''   LULUCF has impacts on the global carbon cycle and as such , these activities can add or remove carbon dioxide ( or , more generally , carbon ) from the atmosphere , influencing climate . LULUCF has been the subject of two major reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) . Additionally , land use is of critical importance for biodiversity .

negative: Greenhouse gas accounting Greenhouse gas accounting describes the way to inventory and audit greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions . A corporate or organisational greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions assessment quantifies the total greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly from a business or organisation 's activities . Also known as a carbon footprint , it is a business tool that provides information with a basis for understanding and managing climate change impacts .   The drivers for corporate GHG accounting include mandatory GHG reporting in directors ' reports , investment due diligence , shareholder and stakeholder communication , staff engagement , green messaging , and tender requirements for business and government contracts . Accounting for greenhouse gas emissions is increasingly seen as a standard requirement for business . For example , in June 2012 , the UK coalition government announced the introduction of mandatory carbon reporting , requiring around 1,100 of the UK 's largest listed companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions every year . Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed that emission reporting rules would come into effect from April 2013 in his piece for The Guardian .   Guidance for accounting for GHG emissions from organizations and emission reduction projects is provided by the World Resources Institute ( WRI ) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development ( WBCSD ) GHG Protocol . For national GHG inventories , guidance is provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) methodology reports .   The International Organization for Standardization ( ISO ) also provides some general standards for   greenhouse gas emissions at organisation level ( ISO 14064 - 1 ) and  greenhouse gas emissions at project level ( ISO 14064 - 2 ) .   Specifications to validate and verify relevant accountings are documented in ( ISO 14064 - 3 ) .

negative: Greenhouse debt Greenhouse debt or carbon debt is the measure to which an individual person , incorporated association , business enterprise , government instrumentality or geographic community exceeds its permitted greenhouse footprint and contributes greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change .   The concept makes no sense without a clear numerical value for the permitted greenhouse footprint . It is not clear what this value is .   Friends of the Earth and similar organisations put forward the concept to define specifically the environmental harm caused by developed countries ' past and present policies . Some governments , at least the Australian Labor leadership , have a tendency to accept such a line of reasoning .   The greenhouse debt assessment thus forms an ecological footprint analysis but can be used separately . Taken conjointly with a ` water debt ' analysis and an ecological impact assessment , greenhouse debt analysis is basic to giving individuals , organisations , governments and communities an understanding of the effects they are having on Gaia , life , and global warming .   Ensuring that the greenhouse debt is zero is essential towards achieving ecologically sustainable development or a sustainable retreat . Any greenhouse debt incurred will contribute to making life harder for future generations of humans and non-human lifeforms .   There are three possible consequences that occur as a result of a greenhouse debt .   Mitigation : finding compensatory ways of reducing the greenhouse debt so its effects are neutralised  Adaptation : finding ways of adjusting to the resulting global warming or climate change  Suffering : having one 's quality of life reduced as a result of the consequences

negative: California coastal salt marsh California 's coastal salt marsh is a wetland plant community that occurs sporadically along the Pacific Coast from Humboldt Bay to San Diego . This salt marsh type is found in bays , harbors , inlets , and other protected areas subject to tidal flooding .

negative: The Green Initiative The Green Initiative has as its main objective the offsetting of Greenhouse gases emitted by human activities that can range from complex industrial production processes to simply driving a car , with reforestation projects in riparian areas that need to be recovered .  The trees planted will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide , as well as environmental benefits , such as water and air quality preservation , and biodiversity protection .

negative: The Cloud Mystery The Cloud Mystery is a documentary by Danish director Lars Oxfeldt Mortensen . It explores the published theory by Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark on how galactic cosmic rays and solar activity affects cloud cover , and how this influences the earth 's climate . Also known as Klimamysteriet in Danish .   This documentary presents the work done to develop the theory that cloud cover change is caused by variations in cosmic rays as the major originator of global climate variation . It also mentions that these scientist to not subscribe to the view that human influence and the effect of greenhouse gases as significant drivers of climate . However , the focus is on the work they have done and not on other climate theories like anthropogenic global warming for instance .

negative: United States federal register of greenhouse gas emissions The United States federal register of greenhouse gas emissions is established by the United States Department of Energy under the Energy Policy Act 1992 . It is administered by the Energy Information Administration through the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program .   Separately , the Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 commenced implementing a mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program , which applies to facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year .

negative: Climate system Earth's climate arises from the interaction of five major climate system components: the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the cryosphere (ice and permafrost), the lithosphere (earth's upper rocky layer) and the biosphere (living things). Climate is the average weather, typically over a period of 30 years, and is determined by a combination of processes in the climate system, such as ocean currents and wind patterns. Circulation in the atmosphere and oceans is primarily driven by solar radiation and transports heat from the tropical regions to regions that receive less energy from the Sun. The water cycle also moves energy throughout the climate system. In addition, different chemical elements, necessary for life, are constantly recycled between the different components. The climate system can change due to internal variability and external forcings. These external forcings can be natural, such as variations in solar intensity and volcanic eruptions, or caused by humans. Accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, mainly being emitted by people burning fossil fuels, is causing global warming. Human activity also releases cooling aerosols, but their net effect is far less than that of greenhouse gases. Changes can be amplified by feedback processes in the different climate system components.

negative: Anti-greenhouse effect The anti-greenhouse effect is a mechanism similar to the greenhouse effect , but with the opposite consequence of cooling the surface temperature of a planet . If gases in the atmosphere of a planet have a lesser transmittance for inbound radiation ( for instance , solar rays in the Solar System ) than for outbound radiation ( typically thermal radiation of the planet 's surface in the infrared domain ) , the surface temperature at which inbound and outbound heat fluxes are at equilibrium is lower .

negative: Greenhouse gas removal Greenhouse gas removal projects are a type of climate engineering that seek to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere , and thus they tackle the root cause of global warming . These techniques either directly remove greenhouse gases , or alternatively seek to influence natural processes to remove greenhouse gases indirectly . The discipline overlaps with carbon capture and storage and carbon sequestration , and some projects listed may not be considered to be geoengineering by all commentators , instead being described as mitigation .

negative: Greenhouse gas inventory Greenhouse gas inventories are a type of emission inventory that are developed for a variety of reasons . Scientists use inventories of natural and anthropogenic ( human-caused ) emissions as tools when developing atmospheric models . Policy makers use inventories to develop strategies and policies for emissions reductions and to track the progress of those policies . And , regulatory agencies and corporations rely on inventories to establish compliance records with allowable emission rates . Businesses , the public , and other interest groups use inventories to better understand the sources and trends in emissions .   Unlike some other air emission inventories , greenhouse gas inventories include not only emissions from source categories , but also removals by carbon sinks . These removals are typically referred to as carbon sequestration .   Greenhouse gas inventories , typically use Global warming potential ( GWP ) values to combine emissions of various greenhouse gases into a single weighted value of emissions .   Some of the key examples of greenhouse gas inventories include :   All Annex I countries are required to report annual emissions and sinks of greenhouse gases under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC )  National governments that are Parties to the UNFCCC and/or the Kyoto Protocol are required to submit annual inventories of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from sources and removals from sinks .  The Kyoto Protocol includes additional requirements for national inventory systems , inventory reporting , and annual inventory review for determining compliance with Articles 5 and 8 of the Protocol .  Project developers under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol prepare inventories as part of their project baselines .  Corporation and other entities can prepare greenhouse gas inventories to track progress towards meeting an emission reduction goal .  Scientific efforts aimed at understanding detail of total net carbon exchange . Example : Project Vulcan - a comprehensive US inventory of fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emissions .

negative: Coastal flood Coastal flooding occurs when normally dry , low-lying land is flooded by seawater . The extent of coastal flooding is a function of the elevation inland flood waters penetrate which is controlled by the topography of the coastal land exposed to flooding . The seawater can inundate the land via several different paths :   Direct inundation -- where the sea height exceeds the elevation of the land , often where waves have not built up a natural barrier such as a dune system  Overtopping of a barrier -- the barrier may be natural or human engineered and overtopping occurs due to swell conditions during storm or high tides often on open stretches of the coast . The height of the waves exceeds the height of the barrier and water flows over the top of the barrier to flood the land behind it . Overtopping can result in high velocity flows that can erode significant amounts of the land surface which can undermine defense structures .  Breaching of a barrier -- again the barrier may be natural or human engineered , and breaching occurs on open coasts exposed to large waves . Breaching is where the barrier is broken down by waves allowing the seawater to extend inland .   Coastal flooding is largely a natural event , however human influence on the coastal environment can exacerbate coastal flooding . Extraction of water from groundwater reservoirs in the coastal zone can enhance subsidence of the land increasing the risk of flooding . Engineered protection structures along the coast such as sea walls alter the natural processes of the beach , often leading to erosion on adjacent stretches of the coast which also increases the risk of flooding .

negative: Emission Reduction Unit The emission reduction unit ( ERU ) is an emissions unit issued under a Joint Implementation project in terms of the Kyoto Protocol . An ERU represents a reduction of greenhouse gases under the Joint Implementation mechanism , where it represents one tonne of equivalent reduced .   To allow comparison between the different effects of gases on the environment , scientists have defined multipliers for gases that compare their greenhouse potency ( global warming potential ) relative to that of carbon dioxide .   One example of a Joint Implementation project resulting in an emission reduction unit , is the production of biogases by landfill sites . These gases consist of mainly methane which escapes to the atmosphere if it is not collected . The main reason for dealing with methane is that it has a 100-year global warming potential multiplier of 25 compared to carbon dioxide ( i.e. has 25 times the greenhouse potency ) . Collection of methane is usually accompanied by its combustion . Burning one tonne of methane produces nearly 3 tonnes of , thus reducing its greenhouse effect by ( 25-3 = 22 ) ERU .   In December 2012 , ERU prices crashed to a low of 15 euro cents before recovering to 23c after news that EU 's Climate Change Committee was to vote on a ban of ERUs from countries that have not signed up to a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol .   In January 2013 , Bloomberg reported that emission reduction unit prices declined 89 percent in 2012

negative: Rip tide A riptide is a strong , offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach . It is a strong tidal flow of water within estuaries and other enclosed tidal areas . They become the strongest where the flow is constricted . When there is a falling or ebbing tide , the water is strongly flowing through an inlet toward the ocean , especially once stabilized by jetties . During these falling and ebbing tides , a riptide can carry a person far offshore . For example , the ebbing tide at Shinnecock Inlet ( picture ) in Southampton New York , extends more than 300 m offshore . Because of this , riptides are typically more powerful than rip currents . During slack tide , the water is motionless for a short period of time until the flooding or rising tide starts pushing the sea water landward through the inlet . Riptides also occur in constricted areas in bays and lagoons where there are no waves . These strong , reversing currents can also be termed ebb jets , flood jet , or tidal jets by coastal engineers because they carry large quantities of sand that form sand bars far out in the ocean and in the bay opposite the inlet channel . The term `` ebb jet '' would be used for a tidal current leaving an enclosed tidal area , and `` flood jet '' for the equivalent tidal current entering it .   The term `` rip tide '' or `` riptide '' is often incorrectly applied to rip currents , which are not tidal flows . A rip current is a strong , narrow jet of water that moves away from the beach and into the ocean . They can flow quickly and are not predictable and are a result of the shape of the coastline . A rip tide is caused by the moons gravitational pull and is a predictable rise and fall of the water level .   The US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration comments :   `` Rip currents are not rip tides . A specific type of current associated with tides may include both the ebb and flood tidal currents that are caused by egress and ingress of the tide through inlets and the mouths of estuaries , embayments , and harbors . These currents may cause drowning deaths , but these tidal currents or tidal jets are separate and distinct phenomena from rip currents . Recommended terms for these phenomena include ebb jet , flood jet , or tidal jet . ''

negative: Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite ( GOSat ) , also known as , is an Earth observation satellite and the world 's first satellite dedicated to greenhouse-gas-monitoring . It measures the densities of carbon dioxide and methane from 56,000 locations on the Earth 's atmosphere . The GOSAT was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ) and launched on 23 January 2009 , from the Tanegashima Space Center . Japan 's Ministry of the Environment , and the National Institute for Environmental Studies ( NIES ) use the data to track gases causing the greenhouse effect , and share the data with NASA and other international scientific organizations .

negative: Tidal river A tidal river is a river whose flow and level are influenced by tides . A section of a larger river affected by the tides is a tidal reach , although it may sometimes be considered a tidal river if it has been given a separate name . The Brisbane River , which flows into the Pacific Ocean from the east coast of Australia , is also a tidal river .   Generally , tidal rivers are short rivers with relatively low discharge rates but high overall discharge ; generally this implies a shallow river with a large coastal mouth . In some cases , high tides impound downstream flowing freshwater , reversing the flow and increasing the water level of the lower section of river , forming large estuaries . High tides can be noticed as far as 100 km upstream . The Coquille River is one such stream where this effect can be noticed .

negative: Cobra effect The cobra effect occurs when an attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse , as a type of unintended consequence . The term is used to illustrate the causes of incorrect stimulation in economy and politics .

negative: Amazon Tall Tower Observatory The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory or ATTO ( in Portuguese : Observatório de Torre Alta da Amazônia ) is a scientific research tower in the Amazon rainforest with a height of 325 m . The site is distant from any human presence , about 150 kilometres northeast of Manaus .   The measurement tower is a joint project between Germany and Brazil coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry , the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry , the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research , INPA ( Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia ) , and the University of the State of Amazonas , UEA ( Universidade do Estado do Amazonas ) .   The tower , South America 's tallest structure , is used to study the climate in the largely untouched rainforest surrounding it . It measures greenhouse gases , aerosols and weather data and provides information about a roughly 100 square kilometer area around the tower .   The joint project is dedicated to the exploration of the rainforest biosphere and how it responds to global warming . ATTO 's counterpart `` ZOTTO '' ( Zotino Tall Tower Observation Facility ) is located in the Siberian Taiga .   The project was launched in 2009 . Building of the tower began in 2014 and was completed in 2015 . The cost of 8.4 million Euros was shared about equally by the German and Brazil partners .   According to a press release from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research ( BMBF ) , ATTO will allow `` climate observations at different altitudes of the atmosphere , which will deliver completely new and so far not achievable results of the measurements on the greenhouse gases and the complex interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere . '' German and Brazilian scientists are now able to do research in a forest area `` far from disturbances caused by human influences '' . Furthermore , the measuring tower will contribute to gather and assess `` climate-relevant chemical and physical processes over the Amazon '' and thus create new principles for climate protection '' .

negative: Tidal wave Tidal wave may refer to :  A tidal bore , which is a large movement of water formed by the funnelling of the incoming tide into a river or narrow bay  A storm surge , or tidal surge , which can cause waves that breach flood defences  A tsunami , a series of water waves in a body of water caused by the displacement of a large volume water , although this usage of `` tidal wave '' is not favored by the scientific community because tsunamis are not tidal in nature  A megatsunami , which is an informal term to describe a tsunami that has initial wave heights that are much larger than normal tsunamis  The crest ( physics ) of a tide as it moves around the Earth

negative: Bangladeshi Americans Bangladeshi Americans are Americans of Bangladeshi descent . The majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis . Bangladeshi immigrants have arrived in the United States in large numbers since the early 1970s to become among the fastest growing ethnic communities since that decade . New York City ; Paterson , New Jersey ; as well as Washington , D.C. , Los Angeles , Boston , Atlanta , San Francisco , Detroit , Chicago , Florida , Dallas , Houston , North Carolina , Austin , and Hamtramck , Michigan are home to notable Bangladeshi communities .   Bangladeshi Americans are expected to grow rapidly in the coming years , as emigration from Bangladesh to the United States continues to increase .

negative: Anthropogenic Anthropogenic is an adjective which may refer to :   pertaining to anthropogeny , the origin of humanity  Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment  Anthropogenic biome  Anthropogenic climate change , or global warming  Anthropogenic cloud  Anthropogenic greenhouse gases  Anthropogenic hazards  Anthropogenic metabolism

negative: Michael J. Kennish Dr. Michael J. Kennish is an American marine scientist and a research professor in the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University , New Brunswick , New Jersey .  He is best known for his work on the effects of human activities on estuarine and marine environments .

negative: Geography of Bangladesh Bangladesh is a low-lying , riverine country located in South Asia with a largely marshy jungle coastline of 580 km on the northern littoral of the Bay of Bengal . Formed by a delta plain at the confluence of the Ganges ( Padma ) , Brahmaputra ( Jamuna ) , and Meghna Rivers and their tributaries , Bangladesh 's alluvial soil is highly fertile , but vulnerable to flood and drought . Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast . Straddling the Tropic of Cancer , Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate characterised by heavy seasonal rainfall , high temperatures , and high humidity . Natural disasters , such as floods , tornadoes , and tidal bores affect the country yearly . Bangladesh also is affected by major cyclones , on average 16 times a decade . A cyclone struck the southeastern coast in May 1991 , killing 136,000 people . Cyclone Sidr struck the southwestern coast on 15 November 2007 , affecting not only the coastal districts of the administrative division Khulna but also about half of the tropical forest Sundarbans .

negative: Salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh , also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh , is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open salt water or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides . It is dominated by dense stands of salt-tolerant plants such as herbs , grasses , or low shrubs . These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh in trapping and binding sediments . Salt marshes play a large role in the aquatic food web and the delivery of nutrients to coastal waters . They also support terrestrial animals and provide coastal protection .


query: "Britain's big freeze is the start of a worldwide trend towards colder weather that seriously challenges global warming theories, eminent scientists claimed yesterday.

positive: Climate change (general concept) Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. In the time since the industrial revolution the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities that are causing global warming and climate change.The climate system receives nearly all of its energy from the sun. The climate system also radiates energy to outer space. The balance of incoming and outgoing energy, and the passage of the energy through the climate system, determines Earth\'s energy budget. When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, earth\'s energy budget is positive and the climate system is warming. If more energy goes out, the energy budget is negative and earth experiences cooling.\nThe energy moving through Earth\'s climate system finds expression in weather, varying on geographic scales and time. Long-term averages and variability of weather in a region constitute the region\'s climate. Such changes can be the result of "internal variability", when natural processes inherent to the various parts of the climate system alter the distribution of energy. Examples include variability in ocean basins such as the Pacific decadal oscillation and Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. Climate variability can also result from external forcing, when events outside of the climate system\'s components nonetheless produce changes within the system. Examples include changes in solar output and volcanism.\nClimate variability has consequences for sea level changes, plant life, and mass extinctions; it also affects human societies.

positive: Global dimming Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the Earth 's surface that was observed for several decades after the start of systematic measurements in the 1950s . The effect varies by location , but worldwide it has been estimated to be of the order of a 4 % reduction over the three decades from 1960 -- 1990 . However , after discounting an anomaly caused by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 , a very slight reversal in the overall trend has been observed .   Global dimming is thought to have been caused by an increase in particulates such as sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere due to human action .   It has interfered with the hydrological cycle by reducing evaporation and may have reduced rainfall in some areas . Global dimming also creates a cooling effect that may have partially counteracted the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming .

positive: Global cooling Global cooling was a conjecture during the 1970s of imminent cooling of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere culminating in a period of extensive glaciation . This hypothesis had little support in the scientific community , but gained temporary popular attention due to a combination of a slight downward trend of temperatures from the 1940s to the early 1970s and press reports that did not accurately reflect the full scope of the scientific climate literature , which showed a larger and faster-growing body of literature projecting future warming due to greenhouse gas emissions . The current scientific opinion on climate change is that the Earth has not durably cooled , but underwent global warming throughout the 20th century .

positive: Climate change denial Climate change denial , or global warming denial , is part of the global warming controversy . It involves denial , dismissal , unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which strongly depart from the scientific opinion on climate change , including the extent to which it is caused by humans , its impacts on nature and human society , or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions . Some deniers do endorse the term , but others often prefer the term climate change skepticism , although this is a misnomer for those who deny anthropogenic global warming . In effect , the two terms form a continuous , overlapping range of views , and generally have the same characteristics : both reject , to a greater or lesser extent , mainstream scientific opinion on climate change . Climate change denial can also be implicit , when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action . Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism .   Campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science has been described as a `` denial machine '' of industrial , political and ideological interests , supported by conservative media and skeptical bloggers in manufacturing uncertainty about global warming . In the public debate , phrases such as climate skepticism have frequently been used with the same meaning as climate denialism . The labels are contested : those actively challenging climate science commonly describe themselves as `` skeptics '' , but many do not comply with common standards of scientific skepticism and , regardless of evidence , persistently deny the validity of human caused global warming .   Although scientific opinion on climate change is that human activity is extremely likely to be the primary driver of climate change , the politics of global warming have been affected by climate change denial , hindering efforts to prevent climate change and adapt to the warming climate . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none .   Of the world 's countries , the climate change denial industry is most powerful in the United States . Since January 2015 , the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has been chaired by oil lobbyist and climate change denier Jim Inhofe . Inhofe is notorious for having called climate change `` the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people '' and for having claimed to have debunked the alleged hoax in February 2015 when he brought a snowball with him in the Senate chamber and tossed it across the floor . Organised campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science is associated with conservative economic policies and backed by industrial interests opposed to the regulation of emissions . Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby , the Koch brothers , industry advocates and libertarian think tanks , often in the United States . More than 90 % of papers sceptical on climate change originate from right-wing think tanks .  The total annual income of these climate change counter-movement-organizations is roughly $ 900 million . Between 2002 and 2010 , nearly $ 120 million ( # 77 million ) was anonymously donated via the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund to more than 100 organisations seeking to undermine the public perception of the science on climate change . In 2013 the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the State Policy Network ( SPN ) , an umbrella group of 64 U.S. think tanks , had been lobbying on behalf of major corporations and conservative donors to oppose climate change regulation .   Since the late 1970s , oil companies have published research broadly in line with the standard views on global warming . Despite this , oil companies organized a climate change denial campaign to disseminate public disinformation for several decades , a strategy that has been compared to the organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking by tobacco companies .

positive: Ice age An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earth 's surface and atmosphere , resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers . Within a long-term ice age , individual pulses of cold climate are termed `` glacial periods '' ( or alternatively `` glacials '' or `` glaciations '' or colloquially as `` ice age '' ) , and intermittent warm periods are called `` interglacials '' . In the terminology of glaciology , ice age implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in both northern and southern hemispheres . By this definition , we are in an interglacial period -- the Holocene -- of the ice age . The ice age began 2.6 million years ago at the start of the Pleistocene epoch , because the Greenland , Arctic , and Antarctic ice sheets still exist .

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: Wibjörn Karlén Wibjörn Karlén ( born 26 August 1937 in Kristine , Kopparberg County , Sweden ) , Ph.D. , is a professor emeritus of physical geography and quaternary geology at Stockholm University , Sweden .   In an article which describes Karlén as a paleoclimatologist , he is quoted as saying : `` One of the big problems with trying to determine long-term temperature changes , is that weather records only go back to about 1860 . By relying on statistical reconstruction of the last 1000 years , using only the temperature patterns of the last 140 years instead of actual temperature readings , the IPCC report and Summary missed both a major cooling period as well as a significant warming trend during that millennium . '' Karlén has also criticized the mainstream media for `` spreading the exaggerated views of a human impact on climate . '' He was also named in a 2007 minority report of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee as one of 400 `` prominent scientists '' who were said to dispute global warming . In 2010 , he predicted that natural climate changes , caused to a large degree by the sun 's activity , would more likely make the climate colder than warmer in the next decades .   He is a contributing author to the Fraser Institute 2007 Independent Summary for Policymakers .   Karlén is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences .

negative: 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 .

negative: An Inconsistent Truth An Inconsistent Truth is a 2012 documentary film written , produced , and featuring , nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine and directed by Shayne Edwards . Valentine , a skeptic of global warming theory , interviewed scientists about the validity of Al Gore 's film An Inconvenient Truth and the facts presented within . What he is told by the scientists he interviews is that there is no consensus on the issue of global warming or climate change . The film argues that global warming proponents keep changing its label , basing their argument on what Valentine says is shaky scientific ground .

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: Climate change in Argentina According to scientists , global warming is predicted to have significant effects on the climate of Argentina . Though temperatures have increased at a slower rate than the global average , nonetheless these impacts have occurred in many areas . If these trends continue , it is predicted that climate change will exacerbate existing natural disasters such as increasing the intensity and frequency of floods or create new ones .

negative: Politics of global warming The complex politics of global warming results from numerous cofactors arising from the global economy 's interdependence on carbon dioxide emitting hydrocarbon energy sources and because carbon dioxide is directly implicated in global warming -- making global warming a non-traditional environmental challenge .

negative: Warm Kitty `` Warm Kitty '' is a children 's song , popularized by the characters Sheldon and Penny in the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory where it is rendered as `` Soft Kitty '' . According to claims in a copyright lawsuit , the words to `` Warm Kitty '' were written by Edith Newlin . The original version is a very popular Polish traditional lullaby `` Wlazł kotek na płotek '' , a folk tune from the 18th century .   In The Big Bang Theory the song is described by Sheldon as a song sung by his mother when he is ill . The lyrics on the Big Bang Theory are : `` soft kitty , warm kitty , little ball of fur ! Happy kitty , sleepy kitty , purr purr purr ! ''   Versions of the song have been released by Australian children 's performer Patsy Biscoe , and by the long-running ABC children 's programme Play School which predates Big Bang Theory and has the lyrics reversed , instead going : `` Warm kitty , soft kitty , little ball of fur . Sleepy kitty , happy kitty , purr purr purr . '' The song remains part of Play School '' 's catalogue of children 's songs regularly performed on the program : the show 's presenters occasionally perform the song for their young viewers .   By Christmas 2011 , `` Soft Kitty '' merchandise -- such as a plush stuffed singing cat , or T-shirt with the The Big Bang Theory '' version of the lyrics -- could be purchased .

negative: The Cloud Mystery The Cloud Mystery is a documentary by Danish director Lars Oxfeldt Mortensen . It explores the published theory by Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark on how galactic cosmic rays and solar activity affects cloud cover , and how this influences the earth 's climate . Also known as Klimamysteriet in Danish .   This documentary presents the work done to develop the theory that cloud cover change is caused by variations in cosmic rays as the major originator of global climate variation . It also mentions that these scientist to not subscribe to the view that human influence and the effect of greenhouse gases as significant drivers of climate . However , the focus is on the work they have done and not on other climate theories like anthropogenic global warming for instance .

negative: Regional effects of global warming Regional effects of global warming are long-term significant changes in the expected patterns of average weather of a specific region due to global warming . The world average temperature is rising due to the greenhouse effect caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases , especially carbon dioxide . When the global temperature changes , the changes in climate are not expected to be uniform across the Earth . In particular , land areas change more quickly than oceans , and northern high latitudes change more quickly than the tropics , and the margins of biome regions change faster than do their cores .   Regional effects of global warming vary in nature . Some are the result of a generalised global change , such as rising temperature , resulting in local effects , such as melting ice . In other cases , a change may be related to a change in a particular ocean current or weather system . In such cases , the regional effect may be disproportionate and will not necessarily follow the global trend . The increasing temperatures from greenhouse gases have been causing sea levels to rise for many years .   There are three major ways in which global warming will make changes to regional climate : melting or forming ice , changing the hydrological cycle ( of evaporation and precipitation ) and changing currents in the oceans and air flows in the atmosphere . The coast can also be considered a region , and will suffer severe impacts from sea level rise .

negative: Environmental skepticism Environmental skepticism is the belief that claims by environmentalists , and the environmental scientists who support them , are false or exaggerated . The term is also applied to those who are critical of environmentalism in general . Environmental skepticism is closely linked with anti-environmentalism and climate change denial .   Environmental skeptics have argued that the extent of harm coming from human activities is less certain than some scientists and scientific bodies claim , or that it is too soon to be introducing curbs in these activities on the basis of existing evidence , or that further discussion is needed regarding who should pay for such environmental initiatives . One of the focus themes in the environmental skeptics movement is the idea that environmentalism is a growing threat to social and economic progress and the civil liberties .   The popularity of the term was enhanced by Bjørn Lomborg 's book The Skeptical Environmentalist . Lomborg approached environmental claims from a statistical and economic standpoint , and concluded that often the claims made by environmentalists were overstated . Lomborg argued , on the basis of cost -- benefit analysis , that few environmentalist claims warranted serious concern . However , in 2010 , Lomborg stated that he believes in the need for `` tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change '' and declared global warming to be `` undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today '' and `` a challenge humanity must confront '' . He summarized his position , saying `` Global warming is real - it is man-made and it is an important problem . But it is not the end of the world . ''

negative: California drought manipulation conspiracy theory The California drought manipulation conspiracy theory is promoted by a number of independent researchers , self-proclaimed scientists , and alternative news outlets . They claim the drought may be a deliberate , man-made phenomenon , created by weather modification . The theory has been dismissed by the scientific community and mainstream media as fringe science or pseudoscience .

negative: Lavoisier Group The Lavoisier Group is an Australian organisation formed by politicians and dominated by retired industrial businesspeople and engineers . It does not accept the science of global warming and works to influence attitudes of policy makers and politicians . The organisation downplays the risk of the effects of global warming , rejects the scientific conclusion that human activity causes it , and opposes policies designed to curtail it . Some members regard climate change as a `` scam . ''   The group was named after French scientist Antoine Lavoisier ( 1743-1794 ) , the father of modern chemistry who disproved the Phlogiston theory of combustion .

negative: How Global Warming Works How Global Warming Works is a website developed by Michael Ranney , a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of California , Berkeley in Berkeley , California , United States . The stated goal of the website is to educate the public on the mechanisms of global warming , which was motivated by research Ranney and colleagues conducted on attitudes towards and understanding of global warming .

negative: Journal for Geoclimatic Studies The Journal for Geoclimatic Studies is the name given to a nonexistent journal which published a fabricated global warming study in November 2007 entitled , `` Carbon dioxide production by benthic bacteria : the death of manmade global warming theory ? '' The published study identified the Journal for Geoclimatic Studies as an official publication of Okinawa University 's Institute for Geoclimatic Studies ( The Institute for Geoclimatic Studies is also fraudulent and does not exist ) . The spurious study , ostensibly authored by Daniel Klein and Mandeep J. Gupta of the University of Arizona 's Department of Climatology , and Philip Cooper and Arne FR Jansson at the University of Gothenburg 's Department of Atmospheric Physics , claimed that global warming was not human caused , but the work of carbon-dioxide emitting bacteria based on the ocean floor .   The report was circulated by a number of global warming skeptics before discovery that the study authors and university departments identified in the publication did not exist . The website where the study was published was taken down once the deception was revealed , and its ownership was traced to David Thorpe , a science journalist and web designer based in the United Kingdom . The true author of the article is purportedly a man identifying himself as Mark Cox , who has claimed the hoax was designed to expose the gullibility and scientific illiteracy of global warming skeptics .

negative: Rainbow gravity theory Rainbow gravity ( or `` gravity 's rainbow '' ) is a theory that different wavelengths of light experience different gravity levels and are separated in the same way that a prism splits white light into the rainbow . This phenomenon would be imperceptible in areas of relatively low gravity , such as Earth , but would be significant in areas of extremely high gravity , such as a black hole . As such the theory claims to disprove that the universe has a beginning or Big Bang , as the big bang theory calls for all wavelengths of light to be impacted by gravity to the same extent . The theory was first proposed in 2003 by physicists Lee Smolin and João Magueijo , and claims to bridge the gap between general relativity and quantum mechanics . Scientists are currently attempting to detect rainbow gravity using the Large Hadron Collider .

negative: Not Evil Just Wrong Not Evil Just Wrong is a 2009 documentary film by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer that challenges Al Gore 's An Inconvenient Truth by suggesting that the evidence of global warming is inconclusive and that the impact global warming legislation will have on industry is much more harmful to humans than beneficial . The movie was filmed in 2008 and was screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and at the RightOnline conference in 2009 .   Despite earlier screenings at conservative political conferences , filmmakers promoted a `` premiere '' on October 18 , 2009 . The film attempted to break a World Record for largest simultaneous premiere , which is currently held by the documentary The Age of Stupid , another global warming documentary . The film 's website claims that there were 6,500 U.S. screenings and 1,500 foreign screenings and reached 400,000 people .

negative: Global K-pop Global K-Pop is Korean pop music specifically created and marketed for the English-speaking international market . This includes original Korean music that is distributed worldwide accompanied by English subtitles , English versions of K-pop songs , EDM remixed versions of K-pop songs as well as artists specifically produced to appeal more to the global audience rather than the Korean market but following the main characteristics and trends of K-pop .   Areia Creations Global Entertainment claims to have created the term and it is the first K-pop agency to claim a pure Global K-pop image for the total of their activities .

negative: Global Warming: The Signs and The Science Global Warming : The Signs and The Science is a 2005 documentary film on global warming made by ETV , the PBS affiliate in South Carolina , and hosted by Alanis Morissette . The documentary examines the science behind global warming and pulls together segments filmed in the United States , Asia and South America and shows how people in these different locales are responding in different ways to the challenges of global warming to show some of the ways that the world can respond .

negative: Warming Up Yesterday's Lunch Warming Up Yesterday 's Lunch ( Подгряване на вчерашния обед , translit . Podgryavane na vcherashniya obed ) is a 2002 Bulgarian drama film directed by Kostadin Bonev . It was entered into the 25th Moscow International Film Festival .

negative: Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment ( GEWEX ) is a research program of the World Climate Research Programme intended to observe , comprehend and model the Earth 's water cycle . The experiment also observes how much energy the Earth receives , studies how much of that energy reaches surfaces of the Earth and how that energy is transformed . Sunlight 's energy evaporates water to produce clouds and rain , and dries out land masses after rain . Rain that falls on land becomes the water budget which can be used by people for agricultural and other processes .   GEWEX is a collaboration of researchers worldwide to find better ways of studying the water cycle and how it transforms energy through the atmosphere . If the Earth 's climates were identical from year to year , then people could predict when , where and what crops to plant . However , instability created by solar variation , weather trends , and chaotic events create weather that is unpredictable on seasonal scales . Through weather patterns such as droughts and higher rainfall these cycles impact ecosystems and human activities . GEWEX is designed to collect a much greater amount of data , and see if better models of that data can forecast weather and climate change into the future .   GEWEX is organized into several structures . As GEWEX was conceived projects were organized by participating factions , this task is now done by the International GEWEX Project Office ( IGPO ) . IGPO oversees major initiatives and coordinates between national projects in an effort to bring about communication of researchers . IGPO claims to support communication exchange between 2000 scientist and is the instrument for publication of major reports . The Scientific Steering Group organizes the projects and assigns them to panels , which oversee progress and provide critique . The Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observations Project ( CEOP ) the ` Hydrology Project ' is a major instrument in GEWEX . This panel includes geographic study areas such as the Climate Prediction Program for the Americas operated by NOAA , but also examines several types of climate zones ( e.g. high altitude and semi-arid ) . Another panel , the GEWEX Radiation Panel oversees the coordinated use of satellites and ground based observation to better estimate energy and water fluxes . One recent result GEWEX 's Radiation panel has assessed data on rainfall for the last 25 years and determined that global rainfall is 2.61 mm/day with a small statistical variation . While the study period is short , after 25 years of measurement regional trends are beginning to appear . The GEWEX Modeling and Prediction Panel takes current models and analyzes the models when climate forcing phenomena occur ( global warming as an example of a ` climate forcing ' event ) . GEWEX is now the core project of WCRP .

negative: Effects of global warming on oceans Global warming can affect sea levels , coastlines , ocean acidification , ocean currents , seawater , sea surface temperatures , tides , the sea floor , weather , and trigger several changes in ocean bio-geochemistry ; all of these affect the functioning of a society .

negative: Heavy Weather (Sterling novel) Heavy Weather is a science fiction novel by Bruce Sterling , first published in 1994 , about a group of storm chasers in a world where global warming has produced incredibly destructive weather .

negative: Global Challenge Award The Global Challenge Award is an online science and engineering design program for pre-college school students ( e.g. middle school through high school ) from all over the world . It is an initiative that started with a partnership with the University of Vermont in collaboration with the National Science Foundation , currently funded by the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning program as well as other foundations and corporations , wherein students have the opportunity to form teams with international counterparts and work towards a solution to mitigate global warming and help envision the future of renewable energy . The program is an online educational environment that uses game based learning , simulation and Web-based science resources in a global competition . It relies on the personal initiative and creativity of students working in diverse teams . The access to the project via the Web makes it possible for students , parents , homeschooling families , teachers and interested global community members to get involved to help young people with their creative ideas for innovation in new forms of energy , conservation and increased productivity .

negative: A Winter of Cyclists A Winter of Cyclists is a 2013 documentary film by Mike Prendergast . The film chronicles a group of Colorado participants as they attempt to complete a 52-day winter bicycle commuting challenge created by Scot Stucky .   The challenge , known as `` The Icy Bike Winter Commuting Challenge '' , was created to encourage people to cycle to work from October to March , during the darker , colder and the snowier months of the year .   The film captures the wide diversity in which riders adapt to new commuting logistics , adverse weather conditions and riding in the dark . And when the Colorado riders encounter an unexpected solidarity across the American continent and into Europe via Facebook , the film provides glimpses into a broader global winter cycling community that is just becoming aware of each other . Facebook Group members encourage each other , share weather reports , gear tips , and inspirational and touching personal stories . The film concludes with the results of the challenge and the riders reflection on their winter of cycling .

negative: Extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpectable , unusual , unpredictable severe or unseasonal weather ; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution -- the range that has been seen in the past . Often , extreme events are based on a location 's recorded weather history and defined as lying in the most unusual ten percent . In recent years some extreme weather events have been attributed to human-induced global warming , with studies indicating an increasing threat from extreme weather in the future .

negative: Joe Bastardi Joe Bastardi ( born July 18 , 1955 ) is a professional meteorologist and weather forecaster known for his opinions on weather and global warming . He is a frequent guest on TV news shows .

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: Bjørn Lomborg Bjørn Lomborg ( -LSB- bjɶɐ̯n ˈlʌmbɒˀw -RSB- ; born 6 January 1965 ) is a Danish author and adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School as well as President of the Copenhagen Consensus Center . He is former director of the Danish government 's Environmental Assessment Institute ( EAI ) in Copenhagen . He became internationally known for his best-selling and controversial book , The Skeptical Environmentalist ( 2001 ) , in which he argues that many of the costly measures and actions adopted by scientists and policy makers to meet the challenges of global warming will ultimately have minimal impact on the world 's rising temperature .   In 2002 , Lomborg and the Environmental Assessment Institute founded the Copenhagen Consensus , a project-based conference where prominent economists sought to establish priorities for advancing global welfare using methods based on the theory of welfare economics .   In 2009 , Business Insider cited Lomborg as one of `` The 10 Most-Respected Global Warming Skeptics '' . While Lomborg campaigned against the Kyoto Protocol and other measures to cut carbon emissions in the short-term , he argued for adaptation to short-term temperature rises , and for spending money on research and development for longer-term environmental solutions . His issue is not with the reality of climate change , but rather with the economic and political approaches being taken ( or not taken ) to meet the challenges of that climate change . He is a strong advocate for focusing attention and resources on what he perceives as far more pressing world problems , such as AIDS , malaria and malnutrition . In his critique of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , Lomborg stated : `` Global warming is by no means our main environmental threat . '' In 2011 and 2012 , Lomborg was named a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy `` for looking more right than ever on the politics of climate change '' .

negative: Everything's Cool (film) Everything 's Cool is a 2007 documentary film that examines the divide between scientists and the general populace on the topic of global warming . Director Dan Gold said of the motivation for the film that `` I 'm optimistic that finally the message that this is real , that human beings are the cause of the most recent warming trend , and that it 's an important issue , that message is actually reaching America . On the other hand ... if that message was fully understood , we would be moving a lot faster to slow this down and to reverse this course . ''   The documentary was shown at the Sundance film festival in January 2007 and at the San Francisco International Film Festival in May 2007 . The directors also took Blue Vinyl , a film about plastic pollution , to Sundance in 2002 . It was shown on CBC in Canada as part of the Passionate Eye series .   The New York Times called it `` a breezy polemic about the politics of global warming ... -LSB- that -RSB- adopts a cheerful comic tone to avoid scaring audiences . '' The LA Times said that `` With wit and passion , Gold and Helfand marshal a plethora of data and developments yet never lose their narrative thread . '' . The New York Sun was less favourable , calling it `` the best movie I 've ever seen about global warming for kids in junior high school , but it 's the most annoying movie about global warming I 've ever seen for adults . ''

negative: Metabolic theory of ecology The metabolic theory of ecology ( MTE ) is an extension of Kleiber 's law and posits that the metabolic rate of organisms is the fundamental biological rate that governs most observed patterns in ecology . MTE is part of a larger set of theory known as Metabolic Scaling Theory that attempts to provide a unified theory for the importance of metabolism in driving pattern and process in biology from the level of cells all the way to the biosphere .   MTE is based on an interpretation of the relationships between body size , body temperature , and metabolic rate across all organisms . Small-bodied organisms tend to have higher mass-specific metabolic rates than larger-bodied organisms . Furthermore , organisms that operate at warm temperatures through endothermy or by living in warm environments tend towards higher metabolic rates than organisms that operate at colder temperatures . This pattern is consistent from the unicellular level up to the level of the largest animals and plants on the planet .   In MTE , this relationship is considered to be the single constraint that defines biological processes at all levels of organization ( from individual up to ecosystem level ) , and is a macroecological theory that aims to be universal in scope and application .

negative: Chesapeake Climate Action Network The Chesapeake Climate Action Network ( CCAN ) is the first grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland , Virginia , and the District of Columbia . The organization 's mission is to foster a rapid societal switch to clean energy and energy-efficient products , joining similar efforts worldwide to address global warming .