query: However, more direct comparisons between solar activity and global temperature finds that  as the sun grew hotter or cooler, Earth's climate followed it with a 10 year lag - presumably due to the dampening effect of the ocean.

positive: Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System . It is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma , with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process . It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth . Its diameter is about 109 times that of Earth , and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth , accounting for about 99.86 % of the total mass of the Solar System .  About three quarters of the Sun 's mass consists of hydrogen ( ~ 73 % ) ; the rest is mostly helium ( ~ 25 % ) , with much smaller quantities of heavier elements , including oxygen , carbon , neon , and iron .   The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star ( G2V ) based on its spectral class . As such , it is informally referred to as a yellow dwarf . It formed approximately 4.6 billionAll numbers in this article are short scale . One billion is 109 , or 1,000,000,000 . years ago from the gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large molecular cloud . Most of this matter gathered in the center , whereas the rest flattened into an orbiting disk that became the Solar System . The central mass became so hot and dense that it eventually initiated nuclear fusion in its core . It is thought that almost all stars form by this process .   The Sun is roughly middle-aged ; it has not changed dramatically for more than four billion years , and will remain fairly stable for more than another five billion years . After hydrogen fusion in its core has diminished to the point at which it is no longer in hydrostatic equilibrium , the core of the Sun will experience a marked increase in density and temperature while its outer layers expand to eventually become a red giant . It is calculated that the Sun will become sufficiently large to engulf the current orbits of Mercury and Venus , and render Earth uninhabitable .   The enormous effect of the Sun on Earth has been recognized since prehistoric times , and the Sun has been regarded by some cultures as a deity . The synodic rotation of Earth and its orbit around the Sun are the basis of the solar calendar , which is the predominant calendar in use today .

positive: Attribution of recent climate change Attribution of recent climate change is the effort to scientifically ascertain mechanisms responsible for recent climate changes on Earth , commonly known as ` global warming ' . The effort has focused on changes observed during the period of instrumental temperature record , when records are most reliable ; particularly in the last 50 years , when human activity has grown fastest and observations of the troposphere have become available . The dominant mechanisms are anthropogenic , i.e. , the result of human activity . They are :  increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases  global changes to land surface , such as deforestation  increasing atmospheric concentrations of aerosols .   There are also natural mechanisms for variation including climate oscillations , changes in solar activity , and volcanic activity .   According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , it is `` extremely likely '' that human influence was the dominant cause of global warming between 1951 and 2010 . The IPCC defines `` extremely likely '' as indicating a probability of 95 to 100 % , based on an expert assessment of all the available evidence .   Multiple lines of evidence support attribution of recent climate change to human activities :  A basic physical understanding of the climate system : greenhouse gas concentrations have increased and their warming properties are well-established .  Historical estimates of past climate changes suggest that the recent changes in global surface temperature are unusual .  Computer-based climate models are unable to replicate the observed warming unless human greenhouse gas emissions are included .  Natural forces alone ( such as solar and volcanic activity ) can not explain the observed warming .   The IPCC 's attribution of recent global warming to human activities is a view shared by the scientific community , and is also supported by 196 other scientific organizations worldwide ( see also : scientific opinion on climate change ) .

positive: Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world 's oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 km2 . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth 's surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area . It separates the `` Old World '' from the `` New World '' .   The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated , S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east , and the Americas to the west . As one component of the interconnected global ocean , it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean , to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest , the Indian Ocean in the southeast , and the Southern Ocean in the south ( other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica ) . The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean at about 8 ° N.   Scientific explorations of the Atlantic include the Challenger expedition , the German Meteor expedition , Columbia University 's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the United States Navy Hydrographic Office .

positive: Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years .   In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing .   Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years .   Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) ,  whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change .   Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned .

negative: Weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere , to the degree that it is hot or cold , wet or dry , calm or stormy , clear or cloudy . Most weather phenomena occur in the lowest level of the atmosphere , the troposphere , just below the stratosphere . Weather refers to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity , whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time . When used without qualification , `` weather '' is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth .   Weather is driven by air pressure , temperature and moisture differences between one place and another . These differences can occur due to the sun 's angle at any particular spot , which varies with latitude . The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations : the Hadley Cell , the Ferrel Cell , the Polar Cell , and the jet stream . Weather systems in the mid-latitudes , such as extratropical cyclones , are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow . Because the Earth 's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane , sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year . On Earth 's surface , temperatures usually range ± 40 ° C ( − 40 ° F to 100 ° F ) annually . Over thousands of years , changes in Earth 's orbit can affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by the Earth , thus influencing long-term climate and global climate change .   Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences . Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earth 's surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant . Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location . The Earth 's weather system is a chaotic system ; as a result , small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole . Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history , and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture and industry have modified weather patterns .   Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth . A famous landmark in the Solar System , Jupiter 's Great Red Spot , is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years . However , weather is not limited to planetary bodies . A star 's corona is constantly being lost to space , creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System . The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind .

negative: Gliese 1132 b Gliese 1132 b ( often shortened to GJ 1132 b ) is an exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star ( Gliese 1132 ) 39 light years ( 12 parsecs ) from Earth , in the constellation Vela . The planet is considered uninhabitable but cool enough to possess an atmosphere . Gliese 1132 b was discovered by the MEarth-South array in Chile .   It has been called `` one of the most important planets ever discovered beyond the Solar System '' : Due to its relative proximity to Earth , telescopes should be able to determine the composition of its atmosphere , the speed of its winds and the color of its sunsets . This is due in part to the small diameter of its parent star ( 21 % that of the Sun ) , which increases the effect on the star 's light of its transits . The planet 's diameter is approximately 20 % larger than that of the Earth and its mass is estimated at 1.6 times that of Earth , implying that it has an Earth-like rocky composition . Gliese 1132 b orbits its star every 1.6 days at a distance of 1.4 million miles .   The planet receives 19 times more stellar radiation than Earth . The temperature of the top of its atmosphere is estimated at 500 F . The planet is estimated to be hotter than Venus , as higher temperatures may prevail near the surface . ( cf. Atmosphere of Venus , Colonization of Venus ) It is possible that one side of the planet is cooler , because it is presumed to be tidally locked due to its proximity to its star ; however , under most circumstances where an atmosphere is thick , it would be able to transfer heat to the far side .   In April 2017 , an atmosphere was confirmed around Gliese 1132 b . It is the most Earth-like exoplanet to date that is known to have an atmosphere .

negative: Granule (solar physics) Granules on the photosphere of the Sun are caused by convection currents ( thermal columns , Bénard cells ) of plasma within the Sun 's convective zone . The grainy appearance of the solar photosphere is produced by the tops of these convective cells and is called granulation .   The rising part of the granules is located in the center where the plasma is hotter . The outer edge of the granules is darker due to the cooler descending plasma . ( The terms darker and cooler are strictly by comparison to the brighter , hotter plasma . ) In addition to the visible appearance , which would be explained by convective motion , Doppler shift measurements of the light from individual granules provides evidence for the convective nature of the granules .   A typical granule has a diameter on the order of 1,500 kilometers and lasts 8 to 20 minutes before dissipating . At any one time , the Sun 's surface is covered by about 4 million granules . Below the photosphere is a layer of `` supergranules '' up to 30,000 kilometers in diameter with lifespans of up to 24 hours .

negative: Milutin Milanković Milutin Milanković ( Милутин Миланковић , pronounced -LSB- milǔtin milǎːnkɔʋitɕ -RSB- 28 May 1879 -- 12 December 1958 ) was a Serbian mathematician , astronomer , climatologist , geophysicist , civil engineer , doctor of technology , university professor and popularizer of science . Milanković gave two fundamental contributions to global science . The first contribution is the `` Canon of the Earth 's Insolation '' , which characterizes the climates of all the planets of the Solar system . The second contribution is the explanation of Earth 's long-term climate changes caused by changes in the position of the Earth in comparison to the Sun , now known as Milankovitch cycles . This explained the ice ages occurring in the geological past of the Earth , as well as the climate changes on the Earth which can be expected in the future . He founded planetary climatology by calculating temperatures of the upper layers of the Earth 's atmosphere as well as the temperature conditions on planets of the inner Solar system , Mercury , Venus , Mars , and the Moon , as well as the depth of the atmosphere of the outer planets . He demonstrated the interrelatedness of celestial mechanics and the Earth sciences , and enabled consistent transition from celestial mechanics to the Earth sciences and transformation of descriptive sciences into exact ones .

negative: Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment ( SORCE ) is a NASA-sponsored satellite mission that measures incoming X-ray , ultraviolet , visible , near-infrared , and total solar radiation . These measurements specifically address long-term climate change , natural variability and enhanced climate prediction , and atmospheric ozone and UV-B radiation . These measurements are critical to studies of the Sun , its effect on our Earth system and its influence on humankind . The SORCE spacecraft launched on January 25 , 2003 on a Pegasus XL launch vehicle to provide NASA 's Earth Science Enterprise ( ESE ) with precise measurements of solar radiation .   SORCE measures the Sun 's output using radiometers , spectrometers , photodiodes , detectors , and bolometers mounted on a satellite observatory . The SORCE satellite orbits the Earth accumulating solar data . Spectral measurements identify the irradiance of the Sun by characterizing the Sun 's energy and emissions in the form of color that can then be translated into quantities and elements of matter . Data obtained by the SORCE experiment can be used to model the Sun 's output and to explain and predict the effect of the Sun 's radiation on the Earth 's atmosphere and climate .   Flying in a 645 km , 40 degree orbit , SORCE is operated by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics ( LASP ) at the University of Colorado at Boulder , Colorado . It will continue the precise measurements of total solar irradiance that began with the ERB instrument in 1979 and has continued to the present with the ACRIM series of measurements . SORCE will also provide the measurements of the solar spectral irradiance from 1 nm to 2000 nm , accounting for 95 % of the spectral contribution to the total solar irradiance . SORCE carries four instruments including the Total Irradiance Monitor ( TIM ) , Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment ( SOLSTICE ) , Spectral Irradiance Monitor ( SIM ) , and the XUV Photometer System ( XPS ) .

negative: Solar eclipse of September 10, 1923 A total solar eclipse occurred on September 10 , 1923 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun 's , blocking all direct sunlight , turning day into darkness . Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth 's surface , with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide .   The path of totality crossed the Pacific Ocean , northwestern and northern Mexico , Yucatan peninsula , Belize . The eclipse was over 90 % in Los Angeles , San Diego and Santa Barbara in the Southern California coast .

negative: Solar eclipse of August 10, 1980 An annular solar eclipse occurred on August 10 , 1980 centred over the Pacific Ocean . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun 's , blocking most of the Sun 's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus ( ring ) . An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide .

negative: HD 162826 HD 162826 ( HR 6669 ) is a star located in the constellation of Hercules and is located about 110 ly from Earth . With an apparent magnitude of 6.46 , the star can be found with binoculars or a low-power telescope by reference to nearby Vega in the constellation Lyra . It is 15 % more massive than the Sun , with a slightly hotter surface temperature . It has no known planets ; the current state of knowledge excludes `` hot Jupiters '' and suggests that a more distant Jupiter is unlikely , but terrestrial planets are possible . The star 's spectra had been under observation previously .   The star is considered to be a stellar sibling of the Sun .  Solar siblings are those stars that formed from the same gas cloud and in the same star cluster ; the term was introduced in 2009 . The Sun is a G2V star with a temperature of 5778 K and is 4.6 billion years old .

negative: Solar eclipse of October 10, 1912 A total solar eclipse occurred on October 10 , 1912 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun 's , blocking all direct sunlight , turning day into darkness . Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth 's surface , with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide .

negative: Mesopause The mesopause is the temperature minimum at the boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere atmospheric regions . Due to the lack of solar heating and very strong radiative cooling from carbon dioxide , the mesosphere is the coldest region on Earth with temperatures as low as -100 ° C ( -148 ° F or 173 K ) . The altitude of the mesopause for many years was assumed to be at around 85 km ( 53 mi . ) , but observations to higher altitudes and modeling studies in the last 10 years have shown that in fact the mesopause consists of two minima - one at about 85 km and a stronger minimum at about 100 km . ( 62 mi . )   Another feature is that the summer mesopause is cooler than the winter ( sometimes referred to as the mesopause anomaly ) . It is due to a summer-to-winter circulation giving rise to upwelling at the summer pole and downwelling at the winter pole . Air rising will expand and cool resulting in a cold summer mesopause and conversely downwelling air results in compression and associated increase in temperature at the winter mesopause . In the mesosphere the summer-to-winter circulation is due to gravity wave dissipation , which deposits momentum against the mean east-west flow , resulting in a small north-south circulation .   In recent years the mesopause has also been the focus of studies on global climate change associated with increases in CO2 . Unlike the troposphere , where greenhouse gases result in the atmosphere heating up , increased CO2 in the mesosphere acts to cool the atmosphere due to increased radiative emission . This results in a measurable effect - the mesopause should become cooler with increased CO2 . Observations do show a decrease of temperature of the mesopause , though the magnitude of this decrease varies and is subject to further study . Modeling studies of this phenomenon have also been carried out .

negative: HD 177809 HD 177809 is a 6th magnitude star in the constellation Lyra , approximately 700 light years away from Earth . It is a red giant star of the spectral type M2III , meaning it possesses a surface temperature of under 3,500 kelvins . In comparison to our Sun , it is much larger and brighter , but its surface is cooler .

negative: Solar eclipse of September 21, 1941 A total solar eclipse occurred on September 21 , 1941 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun 's , blocking all direct sunlight , turning day into darkness . Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth 's surface , with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide .  The path of totality crossed southern Asia , and ended in the Pacific ocean .

negative: Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates , between autumn and spring . Winter is caused by the axis of the Earth in that hemisphere being oriented away from the Sun . Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter , and some use a definition based on weather . When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere , it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere , and vice versa . In many regions , winter is associated with snow and freezing temperatures . The moment of winter solstice is when the sun 's elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value ( that is , the sun is at its farthest below the horizon as measured from the pole ) , meaning this day will have the shortest day and the longest night . The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates outside the polar regions differ from the date of the winter solstice , however , and these depend on latitude , due to the variation in the solar day throughout the year caused by the Earth 's elliptical orbit ( see earliest and latest sunrise and sunset ) .

negative: Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019 A total solar eclipse will occur on July 2 , 2019 with a magnitude of 1.0459 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun 's , blocking all direct sunlight , turning day into darkness . Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth 's surface , with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide .  Totality will be visible from the southern Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand to the Coquimbo Region in Chile and Argentina at sunset , with the maximum of 4 minutes 32 seconds visible from the Pacific Ocean .

negative: Hurricane dynamics and cloud microphysics Tropical convective clouds play an important part in the Earth 's climate system . Convection and release of latent heat transports energy from the surface into the upper atmosphere . Clouds have a higher albedo than the underlying ocean , which causes more incoming solar radiation to be reflected back to space . Since the tops of tropical systems are much cooler than the surface of the Earth , the presence of high convective clouds cools the climate system .   The most recognizable cloud system in the tropics is the hurricane . In addition to the important climatic effects of tropical weather systems , hurricanes possess enough energy to cause massive death and destruction . Therefore , their accurate prediction is of utmost importance .   Cloud microphysics describe the structure and properties of clouds on the microscopic scale .

negative: Climate engineering Climate engineering , commonly referred to as geoengineering , also known as climate intervention , is the deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth 's climatic system with the aim of limiting adverse global warming . Climate engineering is an umbrella term for measures that mainly fall into two types : carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management . Carbon dioxide removal addresses the cause of global warming by removing one of the greenhouse gases ( carbon dioxide ) from the atmosphere . Solar radiation management attempts to offset effects of greenhouse gases by causing the Earth to absorb less solar radiation .   Climate engineering approaches are sometimes viewed as additional potential options for limiting global warming , alongside mitigation and adaptation . There is substantial agreement among scientists that climate engineering can not substitute for climate change mitigation . Some approaches might be used as accompanying measures to sharp cuts in greenhouse gas emissions . Given that all types of measures for addressing climate change have economic , political , or physical limitations , some climate engineering approaches might eventually be used as part of an ensemble of measures . Research on costs , benefits , and various types of risks of most climate engineering approaches is at an early stage and their understanding needs to improve to judge their adequacy and feasibility .   Almost all research into solar radiation management has consisted of computer modelling or laboratory tests , and an attempt to move to outdoor experimentation was controversial . Some carbon dioxide removal practices , such as planting of trees and bio-energy with carbon capture and storage projects , are underway . Their scalability to effectively affect global climate is , however , debated . Ocean iron fertilization has been given small-scale research trials , sparking substantial controversy .   Most experts and major reports advise against relying on climate engineering techniques as a simple solution to global warming , in part due to the large uncertainties over effectiveness and side effects . However , most experts also argue that the risks of such interventions must be seen in the context of risks of dangerous global warming . Interventions at large scale may run a greater risk of disrupting natural systems resulting in a dilemma that those approaches that could prove highly ( cost - ) effective in addressing extreme climate risk , might themselves cause substantial risk . Some have suggested that the concept of engineering the climate presents a so-called `` moral hazard '' because it could reduce political and public pressure for emissions reduction , which could exacerbate overall climate risks ; others assert that the threat of climate engineering could spur emissions cuts .  Some are in favour of a moratorium on out-of-doors testing and deployment of solar radiation management ( SRM ) .

negative: Solar eclipse of April 6, 1875 A total solar eclipse occurred on April 6 , 1875 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun 's , blocking all direct sunlight , turning day into darkness . Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth 's surface , with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide .  Totality was visible on the southern tip of Africa , across the Indian ocean , and across southeastern Asia .

negative: Future of Earth The biological and geological future of Earth can be extrapolated based upon the estimated effects of several long-term influences . These include the chemistry at Earth 's surface , the rate of cooling of the planet 's interior , the gravitational interactions with other objects in the Solar System , and a steady increase in the Sun 's luminosity . An uncertain factor in this extrapolation is the ongoing influence of technology introduced by humans , such as climate engineering , which could cause significant changes to the planet . The current Holocene extinction is being caused by technology and the effects may last for up to five million years . In turn , technology may result in the extinction of humanity , leaving the planet to gradually return to a slower evolutionary pace resulting solely from long-term natural processes .   Over time intervals of hundreds of millions of years , random celestial events pose a global risk to the biosphere , which can result in mass extinctions . These include impacts by comets or asteroids with diameters of 5 -- or more , and the possibility of a massive stellar explosion , called a supernova , within a 100-light-year radius of the Sun , called a Near-Earth supernova . Other large-scale geological events are more predictable . If the long-term effects of global warming are disregarded , Milankovitch theory predicts that the planet will continue to undergo glacial periods at least until the Quaternary glaciation comes to an end . These periods are caused by variations in eccentricity , axial tilt , and precession of the Earth 's orbit . As part of the ongoing supercontinent cycle , plate tectonics will probably result in a supercontinent in 250 -- 350 million years . Some time in the next 1.5 -- 4.5 billion years , the axial tilt of the Earth may begin to undergo chaotic variations , with changes in the axial tilt of up to 90 ° .   During the next four billion years , the luminosity of the Sun will steadily increase , resulting in a rise in the solar radiation reaching the Earth . This will result in a higher rate of weathering of silicate minerals , which will cause a decrease in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere . In about 600 million years from now , the level of CO2 will fall below the level needed to sustain C3 carbon fixation photosynthesis used by trees . Some plants use the C4 carbon fixation method , allowing them to persist at concentrations as low as 10 parts per million . However , the long-term trend is for plant life to die off altogether . The extinction of plants will be the demise of almost all animal life , since plants are the base of the food chain on Earth .   In about one billion years , the solar luminosity will be 10 % higher than at present . This will cause the atmosphere to become a `` moist greenhouse '' , resulting in a runaway evaporation of the oceans . As a likely consequence , plate tectonics will come to an end , and with them the entire carbon cycle . Following this event , in about 2 − 3 billion years , the planet 's magnetic dynamo may cease , causing the magnetosphere to decay and leading to an accelerated loss of volatiles from the outer atmosphere . Four billion years from now , the increase in the Earth 's surface temperature will cause a runaway greenhouse effect , heating the surface enough to melt it . By that point , all life on the Earth will be extinct . The most probable fate of the planet is absorption by the Sun in about 7.5 billion years , after the star has entered the red giant phase and expanded to cross the planet 's current orbit .

negative: Upper-atmospheric models Upper-atmospheric models are simulations of the Earth 's atmosphere between 20 and 100 km ( 65,000 and 328,000 feet ) that comprises the stratosphere , mesosphere , and the lower thermosphere . Whereas most climate models simulate a region of the Earth 's atmosphere from the surface to the stratopause , there also exist numerical models which simulate the wind , temperature and composition of the Earth 's tenuous upper atmosphere , from the mesosphere to the exosphere , including the ionosphere . This region is affected strongly by the 11 year Solar cycle through variations in solar UV/EUV/Xray radiation and solar wind leading to high latitude particle precipitation and aurora . It has been proposed that these phenomena may have an effect on the lower atmosphere , and should therefore be included in simulations of climate change . For this reason there has been a drive in recent years to create whole atmosphere models to investigate whether or not this is the case .

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: Solar eclipse of August 29, 1867 A total solar eclipse occurred on August 29 , 1867 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun 's , blocking all direct sunlight , turning day into darkness . Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth 's surface , with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide .  Totality occurred across central Argentina and the southern Atlantic ocean .

negative: Solar eclipse of April 19, 2004 A partial solar eclipse took place on Monday , 19 April 2004 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon 's shadow misses the Earth .  It was largely visible over the south Atlantic Ocean and north shores of Antarctica , most prominently the Antarctic Peninsula . The eclipse was deep enough to be seen from a large portion of southern Africa , with over 50 % totality at Cape Town , South Africa at approximately 4:10 PM . However , the eclipse remained visible to cities such as Harare , Maseru , Durban , and Bloemfontein , although to a much lesser extent .   The greatest eclipse of the Sun took place over a nigh inaccessible strip of ocean off the Antarctic coast ; the maximum point displayed 73.5 % totality , as compared to Cape Town 's 51 % totality .

negative: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2009 An annular solar eclipse occurred on January 26 , 2009 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun 's , blocking most of the Sun 's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus ( ring ) . An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide .  It had a magnitude of 0.92 and was visible from a narrow corridor beginning in the south Atlantic Ocean and sweeping eastward 900 km south of Africa , slowly curving northeast through the Indian Ocean . Its first landfall was in the Cocos Islands followed by southern Sumatra and western Java . It continued somewhat more easterly across central Borneo , across the northwestern edge of Celebes , then ending just before Mindanao , Philippines .

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: Solar eclipse of November 10, 1920 A partial solar eclipse occurred on November 10 , 1920 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon 's shadow misses the Earth .

negative: Kepler-452 Kepler-452 is a G-type main-sequence star located about 1400 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus . It has a similar temperature to that of the Sun , but it is 20 percent brighter , 3.7 percent more massive and is 11 percent larger . It is approximately six billion years old , 1.5 billion years older than the Sun and also has a much higher metallicity . Thus , Kepler-452 can be considered a solar twin , however its age pushes it more back towards the `` solar analog '' criteria .

negative: Solar eclipse of September 10, 1942 A partial solar eclipse occurred on September 10 , 1942 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon 's shadow misses the Earth .

negative: Solar eclipse of January 31, 1870 A partial solar eclipse occurred on January 31 , 1870 during summer . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon 's shadow misses the Earth .   It was the first of four eclipses that took place that year , the first three were partial , the next occurred on June 28 , 1870 , a part of it occurred in the same area on an ocean as the previous eclipse . It was part of solar saros 148 .

negative: Solar eclipse of August 17, 1803 An annular solar eclipse occurred on August 17 , 1803 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun 's , blocking most of the Sun 's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus ( ring ) . An annular eclipse appears as a partial eclipse over a region of the Earth thousands of kilometres wide .  The eclipse was visible in Africa , Asia , Europe , Indonesia and Indian Ocean , while the annularity was visible in northern Africa , Middle East , and Indian Ocean .

negative: Solar eclipse of February 21, 1803 A total solar eclipse occurred on February 21 , 1803 . A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun , thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth . A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon 's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun 's , blocking all direct sunlight , turning day into darkness . Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth 's surface , with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide .  The eclipse was visible in Pacific Ocean and Central America , while the totality was seen in Mexico .

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: Urban heat island An urban heat island ( UHI ) is an urban area or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities . The temperature difference usually is larger at night than during the day , and is most apparent when winds are weak . UHI is most noticeable during the summer and winter . The main cause of the urban heat island effect is from the modification of land surfaces . Waste heat generated by energy usage is a secondary contributor . As a population center grows , it tends to expand its area and increase its average temperature . The less-used term heat island refers to any area , populated or not , which is consistently hotter than the surrounding area .   Monthly rainfall is greater downwind of cities , partially due to the UHI . Increases in heat within urban centers increases the length of growing seasons , and decreases the occurrence of weak tornadoes . The UHI decreases air quality by increasing the production of pollutants such as ozone , and decreases water quality as warmer waters flow into area streams and put stress on their ecosystems .   Not all cities have a distinct urban heat island . Mitigation of the urban heat island effect can be accomplished through the use of green roofs and the use of lighter-colored surfaces in urban areas , which reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat .   There are concerns raised about possible contribution from urban heat islands to global warming . Research on China and India indicates that urban heat island effect contributes to climate warming by about 30 % . On the other hand , one 1999 comparison between urban and rural areas proposed that the urban heat island effects have little influence on global mean temperature trends . Many studies reveal increases in the severity of the effect with the progress of climate change .


query: The Independent Climate Change Email Review investigated the CRU scientists' actions relating to peer review.

positive: Soon and Baliunas controversy The Soon and Baliunas controversy involved the publication in 2003 of a review study written by aerospace engineer Willie Soon and astronomer Sallie Baliunas in the journal Climate Research , which was quickly taken up by the G.W. Bush administration as a basis for amending the first Environmental Protection Agency Report on the Environment .   The paper was strongly criticized by numerous scientists for its methodology and for its misuse of data from previously published studies , prompting concerns about the peer review process of the paper . The controversy resulted in the resignation of half of the editors of the journal and in the admission by its publisher Otto Kinne that the paper should not have been published as it was .

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

negative: Annual Review of Environment and Resources Annual Review of Environment and Resources is an annual peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews , Inc. . It covers environmental science and engineering , ecology , conservation science , water assets , energy resources , atmosphere , oceans , climate change , agriculture , livestock , natural resource management and global change . The journal was established in 1976 as Annual Review of Energy and renamed Annual Review of Energy and the Environment in 1991 , before receiving its current title in 2003 . The editors-in-chief are Ashok Gadgil of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Thomas P. Tomich of University of California , Davis . According to the Journal Citation Reports , the journal had a 2012 impact factor of 4.968 .

negative: 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: Attorney General of Virginia's climate science investigation The Attorney General of Virginia 's climate science investigation was a `` Civil Investigative Demand '' initiated in April 2010 by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for a wide range of records held by the University of Virginia related to five grant applications for research work by a leading climate scientist Michael E. Mann , who was an assistant professor at the university from 1999 to 2005 . The demand was issued under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act in connection with claims by Cuccinnelli that Mann had possibly violated state fraud laws in relation to five research grants , by allegedly manipulating data . No evidence of wrongdoing was presented to support the claim . Mann 's earlier work had been targeted by climate change skeptics in the hockey stick controversy , and allegations against him were renewed in late 2009 in the Climatic Research Unit email controversy but found to be groundless in a series of investigations .   Widespread concerns were raised by University of Virginia 's faculty and numerous scientists and science organizations that Cuccinelli 's actions posed a threat to academic freedom , and would have a chilling effect on research in the state . The university filed a court petition and the judge dismissed Cuccinelli 's demand on the grounds that no justification had been shown for the investigation . Cuccinelli tried to re-open his case by issuing a revised subpoena , and appealed the case to the Virginia Supreme Court . The case was defended by the university , and the court ruled that Cuccinelli did not have the authority to make these demands . The outcome was hailed as a victory for academic freedom .

negative: Open peer review Open peer review ( also called `` public peer review '' , `` transparent peer review '' ) denotes several , closely related forms of scholarly peer review . Out of over a hundred definitions/forms , a few can be mentioned :  Open-identity or attributed peer review ( as opposed to anonymous peer review )  Open-disclosure or public peer review , where the peer review contents are publicly available  Open-invitation or post-publication peer review , where anyone interested can contribute to the peer review process . Can also be a continuous process after publication .

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: Climate Dynamics Climate Dynamics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science + Business Media . It covers all aspects of the dynamics of global climate systems , including analytical and numerical modeling research on the structure and behavior of the atmosphere , oceans , cryosphere , biomass , and land surface as interacting components of the dynamics of global climate . The journal also publishes reviews and papers emphasizing an integrated view of the physical and biogeochemical processes governing climate and climate change .

negative: Climatic Change (journal) Climatic Change is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science + Business Media covering cross-disciplinary work on all aspects of climate change and variability . It was established in 1978 and the editors-in-chief are Michael Oppenheimer ( Princeton University ) and Gary Yohe ( Wesleyan University ) .

negative: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility ( PEER ) is a 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) non-profit , environmental protection organization of local , state , and national government natural resource and environmental professionals . PEER serves as a resource to potential government whistleblowers , allowing them to anonymously expose environmental wrongdoings and assisting them in redressing agency retaliation .   Founded in 1996 , PEER operates primarily by investigating claims from public employees about government environmental misconduct . Because whistleblowers often face direct retaliation from the offending agencies , PEER encourages employees to act through the organization to reveal government environmental misdeeds . Once a claim is made , PEER investigates it , often using Freedom of Information Act requests . The organization then can choose to take a number of actions , including press releases or lawsuits . PEER also serves to provide legal services to whistleblowers who find themselves the target of agency retaliation . As of January 2011 , PEER is formally affiliated with Climate Science Legal Defense Fund . not-for-profit organization established in 2011 to protect scientific research and researchers of climate science from think tanks and legal foundations that have taken legal action against scientific institutions and individual scientists .

negative: The Independent Review The Independent Review , A Journal of Political Economy is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering political economy and the critical analysis of government policy . It is published by The Independent Institute , a libertarian think tank in the United States . The journal was established in 1996 .

negative: Sham peer review Sham peer review or malicious peer review is a name given to the abuse of a medical peer review process to attack a doctor for personal or other non-medical reasons . The American Medical Association conducted an investigation of medical peer review in 2007 and concluded that while it is easy to allege misconduct and 15 % of surveyed physicians indicated that they were aware of peer review misuse or abuse , cases of malicious peer review able to be proven through the legal system are rare .

negative: CCRC The abbreviation CCRC may refer to :  Capital College and Research Centre  CCRC , a Canadian Christian music record chart  City of Cambridge Rowing Club , a rowing club in Cambridge , England  ClearCase Remote Client , a feature of IBM Rational ClearCase  Climate Change Research Centre , an Australian research initiative focussing on climate change  Continuing Care Retirement Communities  Criminal Cases Review Commission , an investigative body that reviews possible miscarriages of justice in England , Wales and Northern Ireland  Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission , a similar investigative body that reviews possible miscarriages of justice in Scotland

negative: IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Climate Change 2007 , the Fourth Assessment Report ( AR4 ) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , is the fourth in a series of reports intended to assess scientific , technical and socio-economic information concerning climate change , its potential effects , and options for adaptation and mitigation . The report is the largest and most detailed summary of the climate change situation ever undertaken , produced by thousands of authors , editors , and reviewers from dozens of countries , citing over 6,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies .   It supersedes the Third Assessment Report ( 2001 ) , and is superseded by the Fifth Assessment Report .   The headline findings of the report were : `` warming of the climate system is unequivocal '' , and `` most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations . ''

negative: Nature Climate Change Nature Climate Change is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group covering all aspects of research on global warming , especially its effects . It was established in 2011 . Its first editor-in-chief was Olive Heffernan and the journal 's current editor-in-chief is Bronwyn Wake . According to the Journal Citation Reports , the journal had a 2015 impact factor of 17.184 .

negative: Climate Change Authority The Climate Change Authority is an Australian statutory agency established under the Climate Change Authority Act 2011 . It began operations on 1 July 2012 . Its role is to review various climate change policies , including the Carbon Farming Initiative and National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting system , and to advise the Australian Government and Parliament on other matters as requested . The Authority has no legislative or executive powers , which remain with the Government and Parliament of the day .   The Authority is presently undertaking a Special Review into Australia 's policies and targets for reducing emissions in the context of its international commitments and those of other countries . The Special Review is due to be completed by 30 June 2016 .   The Authority has a Board comprising a Chair and eight permanent members : Dr Wendy Craik ( Chair ) , Stuart Allinson ( Acting Chair ) , Kate Carnell AO , Professor David Karoly , Professor John Quiggin , Professor Clive Hamilton , The Hon. John Sharp , Dr Alan Finkel and Danny Price . A tenth member , Andrew Macintosh , sits as an associate member until the conclusion of the Special Review . Dr Finkel is an ex officio member of the Authority as Australia 's Chief Scientist , replacing the former Chief Scientist Ian Chubb .   The original Chair of the Authority was former Reserve Bank of Australia Governor and Treasury Secretary , Bernie Fraser . He resigned from the position in September 2015 .   The agency is based in Melbourne where it has the advantage of being able to work closely with the Productivity Commission . The agency was allocated A$ 6.2 million in the 2012-13 financial year . The Australian Government , under Liberal leadership , is in the process of abolishing the Climate Change Authority , a move which has been heavily criticised .

negative: Peer review (disambiguation) Peer review may refer to :   Clinical audit , a systematic review of healthcare against an explicit standard  Clinical peer review , the process by which health care professionals evaluate each other 's clinical performance  Medical peer review , the process of refereeing healthcare practitioner decisions  Peer review , the scholarly process of screening papers or grant applications  Peer Review , a DLC for Portal 2  Peer Review ( magazine ) , an academic magazine  Physician peer review , the process by which physicians evaluate each other to promote better quality of care  Scholarly peer review , the process of refereeing scholarly papers  Sham peer review , the process of pseudo-review done for political purposes , often in healthcare  Software peer review in software development  Technical peer review in systems engineering   More at : Category : Peer review

negative: Center for Scientific Review The Center for Scientific Review ( CSR ) is the portal for United States National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) grant applications and their review for scientific merit . The CSR organizes the peer review groups or study sections that evaluate the majority ( 70 % ) of the research grant applications sent to NIH . It also receives all grant applications for NIH , as well as for some other components of the United States Department of Health and Human Services ( DHHS ) . Since 1946 , its mission has remained clear and timely : to see that NIH grant applications receive fair , independent , expert , and timely reviews -- free from inappropriate influences -- so NIH can fund the most promising research .   CSR receives nearly 80,000 applications a year and recruits over 18,000 external experts to review its portion of them in its study sections , which often meet three times during the year . Additional scientists serve on other NIH advisory councils , which provide a second level of peer review and make funding recommendations based on priorities set by the United States Congress , DHHS , and the public .

negative: Surveys of scientists' views on climate change Surveys of scientists ' views on climate change - with a focus on human-caused or anthropogenic global warming ( AGW ) - have been undertaken since the 1990s . A 2016 paper ( which was co-authored by Naomi Oreskes , Peter Doran , William Anderegg , Bart Verheggen , Ed Maibach , J. Stuart Carlton and John Cook , and which was based on a half a dozen independent studies by the authors ) concluded that `` the finding of 97 % consensus -LSB- that humans are causing recent global warming -RSB- in published climate research is robust and consistent with other surveys of climate scientists and peer-reviewed studies . ''

negative: Freedom of Information requests to the Climatic Research Unit Freedom of Information requests to the Climatic Research Unit featured in press discussions of disputes over access to data from instrumental temperature records , particularly during the Climatic Research Unit email controversy which began in November 2009 .   The UK Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA ) came into effect in 2005 , and FOI requests were made to the Climatic Research Unit ( CRU ) at the University of East Anglia ( UEA ) for the raw data from weather stations used in developing instrumental temperature record datasets , for copies of agreements under which the raw data was obtained from meteorology institutions , and also for email correspondence relating to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report .   In many cases the raw data which CRU had obtained from National Meteorological Organisations was subject to restrictions on redistribution : on 12 August 2009 CRU announced that they were seeking permission to waive these restrictions , and on 24 November 2009 the university stated that over 95 % of the CRU climate data set had already been available for several years , with the remainder to be released when permissions were obtained . In a decision announced on 27 July 2011 the Information Commissioner 's Office ( ICO ) required release of raw data even though permissions had not been obtained or in one instance had been refused , and on 27 July 2011 CRU announced release of the raw instrumental data not already in the public domain , with the exception of Poland which was outside the area covered by the FOIA request .   A 2008 FOI request by David Holland for emails discussing work on the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report was refused by the university . In November 2009 he alleged that CRU emails posted online discussed deleting the emails he had requested : in January 2010 the Deputy Information Commissioner told a journalist that this indicated an offence under section 77 of the FOIA , but prosecution was time-barred by statute of limitations . Newspapers misrepresented this as a decision in relation to raw data , and the issue was discussed by the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry , which found there had been a lack of openness . The ICO decision published on 7 July 2010 stated that this potential offence had not been investigated as it was time-barred . As Holland was content not to proceed with his complaint against the university , no further action was needed , but the ICO would `` consider whether further action is appropriate to secure future compliance . ''   In September 2011 the ICO issued new guidance to universities . This described exceptions and exemptions to protect research , including allowance for internal exchange of views between academics and researchers free from external scrutiny , as well as commending actively disclosing information when it is in the public interest .

negative: Interdisciplinary peer review Interdisciplinary Peer Review ( IPR ) is a specific term applied to a peer review process with an additional focus outside of the area of the author 's subject of expertise . Disciplines such as Telecommunications , Political Science , Engineering , and Medicine require specific subject matter expertise , however , they still cross multiple disciplines and may require review from many alternate functional areas to achieve maximum perspective to prevent duplication or improper publication . Reviews of this nature may also cross cultures , race , and other demographics to gain perspective .

negative: Stern Review The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is a 700-page report released for the Government of the United Kingdom on 30 October 2006 by economist Nicholas Stern , chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics ( LSE ) and also chair of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy ( CCCEP ) at Leeds University and LSE . The report discusses the effect of global warming on the world economy . Although not the first economic report on climate change , it is significant as the largest and most widely known and discussed report of its kind .   The Review states that climate change is the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen , presenting a unique challenge for economics . The Review provides prescriptions including environmental taxes to minimise the economic and social disruptions . The Stern Review 's main conclusion is that the benefits of strong , early action on climate change far outweigh the costs of not acting . The Review points to the potential impacts of climate change on water resources , food production , health , and the environment . According to the Review , without action , the overall costs of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5 % of global gross domestic product ( GDP ) each year , now and forever . Including a wider range of risks and impacts could increase this to 20 % of GDP or more , also indefinitely . Stern believes that 5 -- 6 degrees of temperature increase is `` a real possibility . ''   The Review proposes that one percent of global GDP per annum is required to be invested to avoid the worst effects of climate change . In June 2008 , Stern increased the estimate for the annual cost of achieving stabilisation between 500 and 550 ppm CO2e to 2 % of GDP to account for faster than expected climate change .   There has been a mixed reaction to the Stern Review from economists . Several economists have been critical of the Review , for example , a paper by Byatt et al. ( 2006 ) describes the Review as `` deeply flawed '' . Some economists ( such as Brad DeLong and John Quiggin ) have supported the Review . Others have criticised aspects of Review 's analysis , but argued that some of its conclusions might still be justified based on other grounds , e.g. , see papers by Martin Weitzman ( 2007 ) and Dieter Helm ( 2008 ) .

negative: Scholarly peer review Scholarly peer review ( also known as refereeing ) is the process of subjecting an author 's scholarly work , research , or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field , before a paper describing this work is published in a journal or as a book . The peer review helps the publisher ( that is , the editor-in-chief or the editorial board ) decide whether the work should be accepted , considered acceptable with revisions , or rejected . Peer review requires a community of experts in a given ( and often narrowly defined ) field , who are qualified and able to perform reasonably impartial review . Impartial review , especially of work in less narrowly defined or inter-disciplinary fields , may be difficult to accomplish , and the significance ( good or bad ) of an idea may never be widely appreciated among its contemporaries . Peer review is generally considered necessary to academic quality and is used in most major scientific journals , but it does by no means prevent publication of all invalid research . Traditionally , peer reviewers have been anonymous , but there is currently a significant amount of open peer review , where the comments are visible to readers , generally with the identities of the peer reviewers disclosed as well .

negative: Extended peer review Extended peer review is the process of including people and groups with experience beyond that of working academics in the processes of assuring the quality of research . If conducted systematically , this can lead to more reliable , or applicable , results than a peer review process conducted purely by academics .

negative: Anonymous peer review Anonymous peer review may refer to :  An anonymous scholarly peer review ( as opposed to an open one )  Any form of peer review that has some form of anonymity

negative: Garnaut Climate Change Review Professor Ross Garnaut led two climate change reviews , the first commencing in 2007 and the second in 2010 .   The first Garnaut Climate Change Review was a study by Professor Ross Garnaut , commissioned by then Opposition Leader , Kevin Rudd and by the Australian State and Territory Governments on 30 April 2007 . After the election on 24 November 2007 , Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd confirmed the participation of the Commonwealth Government in the Review .   The Review examined the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy , and recommended medium to long-term policies and policy frameworks to improve the prospects for sustainable prosperity . Some observers have remarked that the Garnaut Review would be Australia 's version of the Stern Review . A number of forums were held around Australia to engage the public on various issues relating to the Review . The Secretariat to support the Review was based in the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet . The final report of the Garnaut Review was delivered on 30 September 2008 .

negative: Macur Review The Macur Review is an independent review established by the British government in 2012 to review the Waterhouse inquiry .   Its remit was set as follows :   `` To review the scope of the Waterhouse Inquiry , and whether any specific allegations of child abuse falling within the terms of reference were not investigated by the Inquiry , and to make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Justice and the Secretary of State for Wales . ''   It is chaired by Lady Justice Macur DBE .

negative: William Cheung (scientist) William Cheung is a marine biologist , well known for his research on the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and fisheries . He currently works as director of science of the Nereus Program and is also an associate professor at the University of British Columbia , as well as Leader at the UBC Changing Ocean Research Unit .   He has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications , including papers in leading international journals .

negative: Climate Research (journal) Climate Research is a small peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Inter-Research Science Center that was established in 1990 . Its founder and long time publisher was marine biologist Otto Kinne . Outside the climate research community , the journal is mostly known for its 2003 publication of a controversial and now discredited climate change article .   Three volumes , each typically containing half a dozen articles , are published each year . Each of its 12 editors therefore handles an average of less than 2 articles a year . Climate Research covers all aspects of the interactions of climate with organisms , ecosystems , and human societies . In 2006 , a special issue of the journal , titled `` Advances in Applying Climate Prediction to Agriculture '' , was published under open access .

negative: Climate of the Past Climate of the Past is an open-access peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research within Earth science .

negative: Peer Review (magazine) Peer Review is a quarterly magazine published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities that reports `` emerging trends and key debates in undergraduate liberal education '' . It was established in early 2000 and the editor-in-chief is Shelley Johnson Carey . The magazine is based in Washington DC .

negative: Science Review Board The Science Advisory Board is a United States group of independent scientists selected by the Administrator of the EPA to advise on the scientific and technical aspects of environmental problems and issues and who , at the request of the Administrator , review the scientific aspects of any reports or other written products prepared by the agency . Congress established the Board when it enacted the Environmental Research , Development , and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 ( P.L. 95-477 ) .

negative: Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity The Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity ( actual name , Commission de Recherche et d'Information Indépendantes sur la Radioactivité , or CRIIRAD ) is a French NGO which specializes in the analysis of radioactivity in the environment . It was created in the aftermath of the Chernobyl catastrophe on April 26 , 1986 . It revendicates `` being independent from nuclear exploitants , the state and all political parties '' .   The CRIIRAD has an analysis laboratory , equipped for identification of radioactive contamination ( food , water , etc. ) , which has been delivered the technical qualification certificate by the Health minister . It operates both in France and abroad , and is funded by its investigations ( more than a thousand studies since its creation ) and its memberships ' adhesions . As all other French NGOs , it is regulated by the 1901 law on non-profit organizations .   Among other studies by the CRIIRAD , its investigations on the contamination of the French territory following the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe are the most known , although it also studied the consequences of the Marcoule nuclear power plant , the Fukushima I nuclear accidents , and published an atlas of radioactive contamination in Europe and France .

negative: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment ( ACIA ) is a study describing the ongoing climate change in the Arctic and its consequences : rising temperatures , loss of sea ice , unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet , and many impacts on ecosystems , animals , and people . The ACIA is the first comprehensively researched , fully referenced , and independently reviewed evaluation of Arctic climate change and its impacts for the region and for the world . The project was guided by the intergovernmental Arctic Council and the non-governmental International Arctic Science Committee . Three hundred scientists participated in the study over a span of three years .   The 140-page synthesis report Impacts of a Warming Arctic was released in November 2004 , and the scientific report later in 2005 .   The ACIA Secretariat is located at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks .