query: A subsequent study by Dessler (2011) found that Spencer's paper was not a test of climate sensitivity or feedbacks, and his assumptions do not match empirical observational data.

positive: Roy Spencer (scientist) Roy Warren Spencer ( born December 20 , 1955 ) is a meteorologist , Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville , and the U.S. Science Team leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer ( AMSR-E ) on NASA 's Aqua satellite . He has served as Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA 's Marshall Space Flight Center .   He is known for his satellite-based temperature monitoring work , for which he was awarded the American Meteorological Society 's Special Award .

positive: Evolution as fact and theory Many scientists and philosophers of science have described evolution as fact and theory , a phrase which was used as the title of an article by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould in 1981 . He describes fact in science as meaning data , not absolute certainty but `` confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent '' . A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of such facts . The facts of evolution come from observational evidence of current processes , from imperfections in organisms recording historical common descent , and from transitions in the fossil record . Theories of evolution provide a provisional explanation for these facts .   Each of the words `` evolution '' , `` fact '' and `` theory '' has several meanings in different contexts . Evolution means change over time , as in stellar evolution . In biology it refers to observed changes in organisms , to their descent from a common ancestor , and at a technical level to a change in gene frequency over time ; it can also refer to explanatory theories ( such as Charles Darwin 's theory of natural selection ) which explain the mechanisms of evolution . To a scientist , fact can describe a repeatable observation that all can agree on ; it can refer to something that is so well established that nobody in a community disagrees with it ; and it can also refer to the truth or falsity of a proposition . To the public , theory can mean an opinion or conjecture ( e.g. , `` it 's only a theory '' ) , but among scientists it has a much stronger connotation of `` well-substantiated explanation '' . With this number of choices , people can often talk past each other , and meanings become the subject of linguistic analysis .   Evidence for evolution continues to be accumulated and tested . The scientific literature includes statements by evolutionary biologists and philosophers of science demonstrating some of the different perspectives on evolution as fact and theory .

positive: Science Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe .   Contemporary science is typically subdivided into the natural sciences , which study the material universe ; the social sciences , which study people and societies ; and the formal sciences , which study logic and mathematics . The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical observations . Disciplines which use science , like engineering and medicine , may also be considered to be applied sciences .   From classical antiquity through the 19th century , science as a type of knowledge was more closely linked to philosophy than it is now , and in the Western world the term `` natural philosophy '' once encompassed fields of study that are today associated with science , such as astronomy , medicine , and physics . However , during the Islamic Golden Age foundations for the scientific method were laid by Ibn al-Haytham in his Book of Optics . While the classification of the material world by the ancient Indians and Greeks into air , earth , fire and water was more philosophical , medieval Middle Easterns used practical and experimental observation to classify materials .   In the 17th and 18th centuries , scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of physical laws . Over the course of the 19th century , the word `` science '' became increasingly associated with the scientific method itself as a disciplined way to study the natural world . It was during this time that scientific disciplines such as biology , chemistry , and physics reached their modern shapes . That same time period also included the origin of the terms `` scientist '' and `` scientific community '' , the founding of scientific institutions , and the increasing significance of their interactions with society and other aspects of culture .

positive: Regression analysis In statistical modeling , regression analysis is a statistical process for estimating the relationships among variables . It includes many techniques for modeling and analyzing several variables , when the focus is on the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables ( or ` predictors ' ) . More specifically , regression analysis helps one understand how the typical value of the dependent variable ( or ` criterion variable ' ) changes when any one of the independent variables is varied , while the other independent variables are held fixed . Most commonly , regression analysis estimates the conditional expectation of the dependent variable given the independent variables -- that is , the average value of the dependent variable when the independent variables are fixed . Less commonly , the focus is on a quantile , or other location parameter of the conditional distribution of the dependent variable given the independent variables . In all cases , the estimation target is a function of the independent variables called the regression function . In regression analysis , it is also of interest to characterize the variation of the dependent variable around the regression function which can be described by a probability distribution . A related but distinct approach is necessary condition analysis ( NCA ) , which estimates the maximum ( rather than average ) value of the dependent variable for a given value of the independent variable ( ceiling line rather than central line ) in order to identify what value of the independent variable is necessary but not sufficient for a given value of the dependent variable .   Regression analysis is widely used for prediction and forecasting , where its use has substantial overlap with the field of machine learning . Regression analysis is also used to understand which among the independent variables are related to the dependent variable , and to explore the forms of these relationships . In restricted circumstances , regression analysis can be used to infer causal relationships between the independent and dependent variables . However this can lead to illusions or false relationships , so caution is advisable ; for example , correlation does not imply causation .   Many techniques for carrying out regression analysis have been developed . Familiar methods such as linear regression and ordinary least squares regression are parametric , in that the regression function is defined in terms of a finite number of unknown parameters that are estimated from the data . Nonparametric regression refers to techniques that allow the regression function to lie in a specified set of functions , which may be infinite-dimensional .   The performance of regression analysis methods in practice depends on the form of the data generating process , and how it relates to the regression approach being used . Since the true form of the data-generating process is generally not known , regression analysis often depends to some extent on making assumptions about this process . These assumptions are sometimes testable if a sufficient quantity of data is available . Regression models for prediction are often useful even when the assumptions are moderately violated , although they may not perform optimally . However , in many applications , especially with small effects or questions of causality based on observational data , regression methods can give misleading results .   In a narrower sense , regression may refer specifically to the estimation of continuous response variables , as opposed to the discrete response variables used in classification . The case of a continuous output variable may be more specifically referred to as metric regression to distinguish it from related problems .

positive: Richard Lindzen Richard Siegmund Lindzen ( born February 8 , 1940 ) is an American atmospheric physicist known for his work in the dynamics of the middle atmosphere , atmospheric tides , and ozone photochemistry . He has published more than 200 scientific papers and books . From 1983 until his retirement in 2013 , he was Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He was a lead author of Chapter 7 , `` Physical Climate Processes and Feedbacks , '' of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 's Third Assessment Report on climate change . He has criticized the scientific consensus about climate change and what he has called `` climate alarmism . ''

negative: Cloud feedback Cloud feedback is the coupling between cloudiness and surface air temperature where a surface air temperature change leads to a change in clouds , which could then amplify or diminish the initial temperature perturbation . Cloud feedbacks can affect the magnitude of internally generated climate variability or they can affect the magnitude of climate change resulting from external radiative forcings .   Global warming is expected to change the distribution and type of clouds . Seen from below , clouds emit infrared radiation back to the surface , and so exert a warming effect ; seen from above , clouds reflect sunlight and emit infrared radiation to space , and so exert a cooling effect . Cloud representations vary among global climate models , and small changes in cloud cover have a large impact on the climate . Differences in planetary boundary layer cloud modeling schemes can lead to large differences in derived values of climate sensitivity . A model that decreases boundary layer clouds in response to global warming has a climate sensitivity twice that of a model that does not include this feedback . However , satellite data show that cloud optical thickness actually increases with increasing temperature . Whether the net effect is warming or cooling depends on details such as the type and altitude of the cloud ; details that are difficult to represent in climate models .

negative: Maximum likelihood estimation with flow data Maximum likelihood estimation with flow data is a parametric approach to deal with flow sampling data . Assume that we have observations of ai the time a person enters the state of interest , some observables xi , and the censoring of the flow data takes on a particular form . In particular , where is the observed duration outcome , is the underlying continuous variable and is the censoring threshold . For instance , when thinking about unemployment spells , is the data of entering unemployment , is a vector of worker characteristics , and is the observed unemployment duration . If we only follow the workers for a certain period of time , this variable is necessarily a censored version of the true unemployment duration .   Two key assumptions allow for setting up the loglikelihood . First , a distributional form for the latent variable needs to be assumed . Second , independence between the true duration and the starting point of the spell is assumed , i.e. ,   where F is the conditional distribution of the underlying duration variable . This latter assumption allows us to model the probability that the variable is censored , i.e. ,   which leads to the following log likelihood :   where f is the density associated with the distribution and is an indicator denoting whether . Additionally , it is possible to have the threshold vary at the observational level , by replacing by in the formulas above .   Tests of specification in duration models encompass testing for the validity of the imposed functional form . Tests of restrictions on the functional form are similar to those testing for unobserved heterogeneity , where the restriction imposes no such heterogeneity . Nevertheless , it is often desirable to test for such heterogeneity , as this can bias the estimation of the hazard rate . Similarly , tests for censoring exist that compare the distribution of the generalized error under the censored and the uncensored assumption .

negative: MELISA A MELISA ( Memory Lymphocyte Immunostimulation Assay ) test is a blood test that detects type IV hypersensitivity to metals , chemicals , environmental toxins and molds from one single blood sample . The test does not measure toxicity -- that is to say , it will not measure the amounts of a harmful substance in the patient 's blood . It measures if the patient is allergic to it .   Two articles have concluded that the MELISA test is not useful for diagnosis since a large number of false positive results will be obtained . A subsequent study confirmed MELISA as reproducible , sensitive , specific , and reliable for detecting metal sensitivity in metal-sensitive patients .

negative: CLIMAT CLIMAT is a code for reporting monthly climatological data assembled at land-based meteorological surface observation sites to data centres . CLIMAT-coded messages contain information on several meteorological variables that are important to monitor characteristics , changes , and variability of climate . Usually these messages are sent and exchanged via the Global Telecommunication System ( GTS ) of the World Meteorological Organisation ( WMO ) . Modifications of the CLIMAT code are the CLIMAT SHIP and CLIMAT TEMP / CLIMAT TEMP SHIP codes which serve to report monthly climatological data assembled at ocean-based meteorological surface observation sites and at land - / ocean-based meteorological upper-air observation sites , respectively . The monthly values included usually are obtained by averaging observational values of one or several daily observations over the respective month .

negative: Bootstrapping (statistics) In statistics , bootstrapping is any test or metric that relies on random sampling with replacement . Bootstrapping allows assigning measures of accuracy ( defined in terms of bias , variance , confidence intervals , prediction error or some other such measure ) to sample estimates . This technique allows estimation of the sampling distribution of almost any statistic using random sampling methods . Generally , it falls in the broader class of resampling methods .   Bootstrapping is the practice of estimating properties of an estimator ( such as its variance ) by measuring those properties when sampling from an approximating distribution . One standard choice for an approximating distribution is the empirical distribution function of the observed data . In the case where a set of observations can be assumed to be from an independent and identically distributed population , this can be implemented by constructing a number of resamples with replacement , of the observed dataset ( and of equal size to the observed dataset ) .   It may also be used for constructing hypothesis tests . It is often used as an alternative to statistical inference based on the assumption of a parametric model when that assumption is in doubt , or where parametric inference is impossible or requires complicated formulas for the calculation of standard errors .

negative: Bartlett's test In statistics , Bartlett 's test ( see Snedecor and Cochran , 1989 ) is used to test if k samples are from populations with equal variances . Equal variances across populations is called homoscedasticity or homogeneity of variances . Some statistical tests , for example the analysis of variance , assume that variances are equal across groups or samples . The Bartlett test can be used to verify that assumption .   Bartlett 's test is sensitive to departures from normality . That is , if the samples come from non-normal distributions , then Bartlett 's test may simply be testing for non-normality . Levene 's test and the Brown -- Forsythe test are alternatives to the Bartlett test that are less sensitive to departures from normality .   The test is named after Maurice Stevenson Bartlett .

negative: Peter Thejll Peter Andreas Thejll ( born 1956 ) is a Danish astrophysicist and climate researcher . His research in solar variation helped provide evidence of the greenhouse effect on the Earth 's climate in the late 20th century . In particular , his study with Knud Lassen on Northern Hemisphere land air temperature showed that the rise of 0.4 degrees Celsius since 1980 could not be accounted for by the solar cycle . Climatologists have pointed to this finding as an `` actual piece of evidence for greenhouse warming '' .   Thejll received his undergraduate education at the University of Copenhagen . He received an M.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Delaware .   Thejll was a Carlsberg Fellow at the Niels Bohr Institute and worked at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics . Thejll currently is a senior scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute in Copenhagen . He is currently involved in the creation of a global automatic system to observe the Earth 's reflectivity - albedo - using observations of the earthshine on the Moon . Such data can be used for climate change studies and calibration of satellite data as the measurements deliver independent data on the albedo . A telescope is now installed on Hawaii at the Mauna Loa Observatory . The Swedish research agency VINNOVA is funding this project .

negative: Minimum resolvable contrast Minimum resolvable contrast ( MRC ) is a subjective measure of a visible spectrum sensor 's or camera 's sensitivity and ability to resolve data . A snapshot image of a series of three bar targets of selected spatial frequencies and various contrast coatings captured by the UUT ( Unit Under Test ) are used to determine the MRC of the UUT , i.e. the visible spectrum camera or sensor . A trained observer selects the smallest target resolvable at each contrast level . Typically , specialized computer software collects the inputed data of the observer and provides a graph of contrast v.s. spatial frequency at a given luminance level . A first order polynomial is fitted to the data and an MRC curve of spatial frequency versus contrast is generated .

negative: Epistemic feedback The term `` epistemic feedback '' is a form of feedback which refers to an interplay between what is being observed ( or measured ) and the result of the observation .  The concept can apply to a process to obtain information , where the process , itself , changes the information when being obtained . For example , instead of quietly asking customers for their opinions about food in a restaurant , making an announcement about food quality , as being tested in a survey , could cause cooks to focus on having high-quality results . The concept can also apply to changing the method of observation , rather than affecting the data . For example , if after asking several customers about food , they noted the food as generally good or fair , then the questions might be changed to ask , more specifically , which food items were most/least liked . Hence , the interplay can alter either the observations , or the method of observation , or both .

negative: Notational analysis In professional sports , notational analysis is the study of movement patterns , strategy and tactics in team sports . Successful patterns of play can be identified and used in subsequent matches . Notational analysis has a history in dance and music notation . Notational analysis is a way that critical events in a performance can be quantified in a consistent and reliable manner .   In notational analysis , no change in performance of any kind will take place without feedback . The role of feedback is central in the performance improvement process , and by inference , so is the need for accuracy and precision of such feedback . The provision of this accurate and precise feedback can only be facilitated if performance and practice is subjected to a vigorous process of analysis .   Augmented feedback has traditionally been provided by subjective observations , made during performance by the coaches , in the belief that they can accurately report on the critical elements of performance without any observation aids . Several studies not only contradict this belief , but also suggest that the recall abilities of experienced coaches are little better than those of novices , and that even with observational training , coaches ' recall abilities improved only slightly . Furthermore , research in applied psychology has suggested that these recall abilities are also influenced by factors that include the observer 's motives and beliefs . The coach is not a passive perceiver of information , and as such his or her perception of events is selective and constructive , not simply a copying process . This importance of feedback to performance improvement , and the limitations of coaches ' recall abilities alluded to above , implies a requirement for objective data upon which to base augmented feedback , and the main methods of `` objectifying '' this data involve the use of video / notational analysis ( Hughes and Franks , 1997 p. 11 ) .   Coaches have been aware , consciously or unconsciously , of these needs for accuracy of feedback and have been using simple data gathering systems for decades . More recently , sports scientists have been using notational analysis systems to answer fundamental questions about game play and performance in sport . An early work , over some decades , on analysis of soccer was picked up by the then Director of Coaching at the Football Association , and this had a profound effect on the patterns of play in British football -- the adoption of the ` long ball ' game . Generally , the first publications in Britain of the research process by notational analysis of sport were in the mid-1970s , so as a discipline it is one of the more recent to be embraced by sports science . The publication of a number of notation systems in racket sports provided a fund of ideas used by other analysts . Because of the growth and development of sports science as an academic discipline , a number of scientists began using and extending the simple hand notation techniques that had served for decades . This also coincided with the introduction of personal computers , which transformed all aspects of data gathering in sports science . Currently hand and computerised notation systems are both used to equal extents by working analysts , although the use of computer databases to collate hand notated data post-event makes the analyses much more powerful .   The applications of notation have been defined as : -   1 . tactical evaluation ,   2 . technical evaluation ,   3 . analysis of movement ,   4 . development of a database and modelling , and   5 . for educational use with both coaches and players .   Most pieces of research using notation , or indeed any practical applications working directly with coaches and athletes , will span more than one of these purposes .

negative: Testing effect The testing effect is the finding that long-term memory is increased when some of the learning period is devoted to retrieving the to-be-remembered information through testing with proper feedback . The effect is also sometimes referred to as retrieval practice , practice testing , or test-enhanced learning .   It is useful for people to test their knowledge of the to-be-remembered material during the studying process , instead of solely studying or reading the material . For example , a student can use flashcards to self-test and receive feedback as they study . The testing effect provides the largest benefit to long-term memory when the tested material is difficult enough to require effort , the retrieval success is high , and feedback with correct answers is given after testing .

negative: Michelle Dessler Michelle Dessler is a fictional character played by Reiko Aylesworth on the television series , 24 . She was one of Jack 's closest and most trusted allies at CTU as well as one of his closest friends outside of work . The character first appeared in the second season of 24 as an Internet Protocol Manager in the Los Angeles Branch of CTU and a love interest of Tony Almeida . In subsequent storylines , she is seen to have held positions as Chief of Staff and Acting Special Agent in Charge at CTU Los Angeles , and Associate Special Agent in Charge at Division .

negative: Holdridge life zones The Holdridge life zones system is a global bioclimatic scheme for the classification of land areas . It was first published by Leslie Holdridge in 1947 , and updated in 1967 . It is a relatively simple system based on few empirical data , giving objective mapping criteria . A basic assumption of the system is that both soil and climax vegetation can be mapped once climate is known .

negative: Walk forward optimization Walk forward optimization is a method used in finance for determining the best parameters to use in a trading strategy . The trading strategy is optimized with in sample data for a time window in a data series . The remainder of the data are reserved for out of sample testing . A small portion of the reserved data following the in sample data is tested with the results recorded . The in sample time window is shifted forward by the period covered by the out of sample test , and the process repeated . At the end , all of the recorded results are used to assess the trading strategy .   It means to get the most suitable/stable parameters of the system and run the system with these parameters using another segment of data and these two segments of data do not overlap each other . It is the culmination of the following methods and helps in creation of robust systems .   Backtesting is using past data to test a trading system . It 's useful because , if a system was not profitable in the past , that 's a strong sign it wo n't be profitable in the future . It refers to applying a trading system to historical data to verify how a system would have performed during the specified time period .   Forward testing is also known as Walk forward testing is the simulation of the real markets data on paper only . It means that though you are moving along the markets live , but you are not actually putting in real money , but doing virtual trading in the markets to understand the movements of markets better . Hence , it is also called Paper Trading . Forward performance testing is a simulation of actual trading and involves following the system 's logic in a live market .

negative: Breusch–Godfrey test In statistics , the Breusch -- Godfrey test , named after Trevor S. Breusch and Leslie G. Godfrey , is used to assess the validity of some of the modelling assumptions inherent in applying regression-like models to observed data series . In particular , it tests for the presence of serial correlation that has not been included in a proposed model structure and which , if present , would mean that incorrect conclusions would be drawn from other tests , or that sub-optimal estimates of model parameters are obtained if it is not taken into account . The regression models to which the test can be applied include cases where lagged values of the dependent variables are used as independent variables in the model 's representation for later observations . This type of structure is common in econometric models .   Because the test is based on the idea of Lagrange multiplier testing , it is sometimes referred to as LM test for serial correlation .   A similar assessment can be also carried out with the Durbin -- Watson test and the Ljung -- Box test .

negative: Sensitivity (control systems) The controller parameters are typically matched to the process characteristics and since the process may change , it is important that the controller parameters are chosen in such a way that the closed loop system is not sensitive to variations in process dynamics . One way to characterize sensitivity is through the nominal sensitivity peak :   where and denote the plant and controller 's transfer function in a basic closed loop control System , using unity negative feedback .   The sensitivity function , which appears in the above formula also describes the transfer function from external disturbance to process output . Hence , lower values of suggest further attenuation of the external disturbance . The sensitivity function tells us how the disturbances are influenced by feedback . Disturbances with frequencies such that is less than one are reduced by an amount equal to the distance to the critical point and disturbances with frequencies such that is larger than one are amplified by the feedback .   It is important that the largest value of the sensitivity function be limited for a control system and it is common to require that the maximum value of the sensitivity function , , be in a range of 1.3 to 2 .

negative: Photon underproduction crisis The photon underproduction crisis was a cosmological deficit between observed photons and predicted photons .   The deficit , or underproduction crisis , arises from comparing observations of ultraviolet light emitted from known populations of galaxies and quasars to theoretical predictions of the amount of ultraviolet light require to simulate the observed distribution of the hydrogen gas in the local universe in a cosmological simulation . The distribution of hydrogen gas was inferred using Lyman-alpha forest observations from Hubble Space Telescope 's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph . The amount of light from galaxies and quasars can be estimated from its effect on the distribution of hydrogen and helium in the regions between galaxies . Highly energetic ultraviolet photons can convert electrically neutral hydrogen gas into ionized gas . A team led by Juna Kollmeier reported an unexpected deficit of roughly 400 % between ionizing light from known sources and the actual observations of intergalactic hydrogen . Kollmeier and her team wrote in their scientific report , `` We examine the statistics of the low-redshift Lyman-alpha forest from smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations in light of recent improvements in the estimated evolution of the cosmic ultraviolet background ( UVB ) and recent observations from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph ( COS ) . We find that the value of the metagalactic photoionization rate required by our simulations to match the observed properties of the low-redshift Lyman-alpha forest is a factor of 5 larger than the value predicted by state-of-the art models for the evolution of this quantity . '' Cosmological simulations start at very high cosmological redshift z ( such as z = 100 or larger ) and are evolved to z = 0 . According to Benjamin D. Oppenheimer , who is one of the report 's coauthors , `` The simulations fit the data beautifully in the early universe , and they fit the local data beautifully if we 're allowed to assume that this extra light is really there . It 's possible the simulations do not reflect reality , which by itself would be a surprise , because intergalactic hydrogen is the component of the Universe that we think we understand the best . '' Kollmeier and her team state that '' ... either conventional sources of ionizing photons ( galaxies and quasars ) must contribute considerably more than current observational estimates or our theoretical understanding of the low-redshift universe is in need of substantial revision . '' Similar study , led by Michael Shull , found that the deficit is only factor 2 large and not a factor 5 as previously claimed .   The photon underproduction crisis is resolved by a series of recent papers . Khaire & Srianand showed that a factor 2 to 5 times large metagalactic photoionization rate can be easily obtained using updated quasar and galaxy observations . Recent observations of quasars indicate that the quasar contribution to ultraviolet photons is factor 2 large as compared to previous estimates . The revised galaxy contribution is also factor 3 higher . Furthermore , the Kollmeier GADGET-2 simulations did not include heating from AGN feedback . Including AGN feedback was shown to be an important element for heating in the low redshift IGM ( Gurvich , Burkhart , & Bird 2016 . ) . This implies that the low redshift COS data can be used to calibrate AGN feedback models in cosmological simulations .

negative: Gabriela González Gabriela González , ( born 24 February 1965 in Cordoba , Argentina ) is a professor of physics and astronomy at the Louisiana State University and was the spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration from March 2011 until March 2017 . She has published several papers on Brownian motion as a limit to the sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors , and has an interest in data analysis for gravitational-wave astronomy .   In February 2016 , she was one of four LIGO scientists present for the announcement that the first direct gravitational wave observation had been detected in September 2015 .

negative: Theoretical ecology Theoretical ecology is the scientific discipline devoted to the study of ecological systems using theoretical methods such as simple conceptual models , mathematical models , computational simulations , and advanced data analysis . Effective models improve understanding of the natural world by revealing how the dynamics of species populations are often based on fundamental biological conditions and processes . Further , the field aims to unify a diverse range of empirical observations by assuming that common , mechanistic processes generate observable phenomena across species and ecological environments . Based on biologically realistic assumptions , theoretical ecologists are able to uncover novel , non-intuitive insights about natural processes . Theoretical results are often verified by empirical and observational studies , revealing the power of theoretical methods in both predicting and understanding the noisy , diverse biological world .   The field is broad and includes foundations in applied mathematics , computer science , biology , statistical physics , genetics , chemistry , evolution , and conservation biology . Theoretical ecology aims to explain a diverse range of phenomena in the life sciences , such as population growth and dynamics , fisheries , competition , evolutionary theory , epidemiology , animal behavior and group dynamics , food webs , ecosystems , spatial ecology , and the effects of climate change .   Theoretical ecology has further benefited from the advent of fast computing power , allowing the analysis and visualization of large-scale computational simulations of ecological phenomena . Importantly , these modern tools provide quantitative predictions about the effects of human induced environmental change on a diverse variety of ecological phenomena , such as : species invasions , climate change , the effect of fishing and hunting on food network stability , and the global carbon cycle .

negative: Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility assay The Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility assay ( MODS ) is a culture method shown to be more sensitive , faster and cheaper test than current culture-based tests for Tuberculosis . The Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility assay ( MODS ) involves direct observation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and simultaneously yields drug-resistance .

negative: Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility ( ARM Climate Research Facility ) is a United States Department of Energy scientific user facility for the study of global climate change by the national and international research community .   The ARM Climate Research Facility consists of global observation sites and research aircraft that measure radiative properties of the atmosphere , particularly cloud and aerosol formation processes . Continuous data from these sites , as well as supplemental data obtained through intensive field research campaigns , are available to scientists online through the ARM Data Archive . ARM is collaboratively managed by nine DOE national laboratories .

negative: Johannes Orphal Johannes Orphal ( born 11 July 1966 , in Magdeburg ) is a German physicist . He is Full Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research ( IMK ) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology ( KIT ) . Until 2009 he was Professor at the University of Paris-Est in Créteil and research scientist at the CNRS .   His main scientific contributions are in the field of molecular spectroscopy applied to the Earth 's atmosphere : laboratory measurements of unstable and reactive molecules and radicals , data evaluation for international databases e.g. HITRAN , preparation and use of remote-sensing satellite missions ( GOME , SCIAMACHY , MIPAS , MetOp , MTG ... ) to observe stratospheric chemistry , tropospheric air quality and processes of relevance for climate , as well as the development of sensitive in-situ measurements techniques like IBBCEAS .

negative: Mimi Spencer Mimi Spencer ( born 1967 ) is a journalist and author . A feature-writer and columnist for such titles as the Daily Mail , the Evening Standard , the Guardian , The Spectator , Marie Claire , Harper 's Bazaar and Observer Food Monthly .   Spencer is the author of 101 Things To Do Before You Diet and The Fast Diet with Michael Mosley .

negative: Duncan Spencer Duncan Spencer ( born 5 April 1972 ) is a former English cricketer . Born in Nelson , Lancashire , he was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler . Spencer 's first cricketing appearances came as part of an England A side playing against a Western Australia XI during an Australian tour in 1993 .   Spencer 's debut first-class match came in the 1993 County Championship , though he only played one further match before signing for Western Australia in time for the 1994 Sheffield Shield . Western Australia finished in third place in the league during Spencer 's season at the club . Just three months after the end of the competition , he played once again in the County Championship , though he made little impact in the four games in which he played and Kent finished the season in midtable as Spencer dropped out of the county game with back trouble , but not before Sir Vivian Richards rated Spencer as the fastest bowler he had ever faced .   After six years out of the Western Australian side , he returned to play six one-day matches for WA in the 2000/01 season and after the last of these matches , he returned a positive drug test to the anabolic steroid nandrolone . He was found guilty and suspended from all competitive cricket for 18 months . Spencer claimed that it was taken to relieve the pain caused by chronic back injuries .   Spencer returned to sign for Sussex at the age of 34 , signing for the start of the 2006 County Championship season . However , Spencer played just one County Championship match following his return , moving to Minor Counties outfit Buckinghamshire during the second half of the season .   Spencer was on the losing side of the 2006 Minor Counties Championship final . Throughout his career , he played as a lower-order batsman , particularly during his matches in England .

negative: Bobo doll experiment The Bobo doll experiment was the collective name of experiments conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961 and 1963 when he studied children 's behavior after watching an adult model act aggressively towards a Bobo doll , a toy that gets up by itself to a standing position when it is knocked down . There are different variations of the experiment . The most notable experiment measured the children 's behavior after seeing the model get rewarded , get punished , or experience no consequence for beating up the bobo doll . The experiments are empirical approaches to test Bandura 's social learning theory . The social learning theory claims that people learn through observing , imitating , and modeling . It shows that people not only learn by being rewarded or punished ( behaviorism ) , but they can also learn from watching somebody else being rewarded or punished ( observational learning ) . These experiments are important because they sparked many more studies on the effects of observational learning . The studies not only give us new data , but this data has practical implications , e.g. how children can be influenced from watching violent media .

negative: Judgment of Line Orientation Judgment of Line Orientation ( JLO ) is a standardized test of visuospatial skills commonly associated with functioning of the parietal lobe in the right hemisphere . The test measures a person 's ability to match the angle and orientation of lines in space . Subjects are asked to match two angled lines to a set of 11 lines that are arranged in a semicircle and separated 18 degrees from each other . The complete test has 30 items , but short forms have also been created . There is normative data available for ages 7-96 .   In 1994 , Arthur L. Benton developed the test from his study of the effects of a right hemisphere lesion on spatial skills .

negative: International Halley Watch Halley 's Comet , named after English astronomer Edmund Halley who first demonstrated its periodicity , returns to the vicinity of the Sun and Earth approximately every 76 years . Since comets are believed to be the most primordial objects in the solar system , their study is of great importance to planetary science . At the time of the 1986 return ( technically , `` apparition '' ) of the comet , astronomical telescopes and related instrumentation were vastly more sensitive than for any previous apparition . Consequently , the International Halley Watch ( IHW ) was organized to stimulate , standardize , collect , and archive observations of the comet .   The initial plans were formulated by scientists at NASA ` sJet Propulsion Laboratory in California , where a Lead Center for western hemisphere observations was established with support from NASA ; a corresponding Center for eastern hemisphere observations was funded by the Federal Republic of Germany at the Remeis Observatory ( code 521 ) in Bamberg . An international Steering Group was established , and a set of Discipline Specialists was chosen to organize observing networks , coordinate their activity , and ultimately to collect and archive their data . This effort was endorsed by the International Astronomical Union in 1982 , and cometary scientists were chosen as Discipline Specialists in the areas of Astrometry , Infrared Studies , Large Scale Phenomena , Near-Nucleus Studies , Photometry and Polarimetry , Radio Studies , Spectroscopy and Spectrophotometry , Meteor Studies , and Amateur Observations . The IHW also coordinated with the space missions to the comet , Giotto by the European Space Agency and Vega by the Soviet Union and collaborating countries . The collected data were subsequently published as a digital archive on CD-ROMs .

negative: Arthur König Arthur Peter König ( September 13 , 1856 , Krefeld -- October 26 , 1901 , Berlin ) devoted his short life to physiological optics . Born with congenital kyphosis he studied in Bonn and Heidelberg , moving to Berlin in the fall of 1879 where he studied under Hermann von Helmholtz , whose assistant he became in 1882 . After obtaining a doctoral degree in 1882 he qualified for a professorial position in 1884 . In 1890 he became director of the physical department of the Physiological Institute of the University of Berlin . In the same year he married Laura Köttgen with whom he had a son , Arthur , who became an astronomer . Circulatory problems caused by his kyphosis resulted in his premature death in 1901 .   Originally working in physics , he began in 1883 to concentrate on physiological optics where he published over thirty papers , some of seminal importance . Among these are the 1886 paper ( together with Conrad Dietrici ) Fundamental sensations and their sensitivity in the spectrum , an empirical determination of what in fact is the spectral sensitivity of the human rod and cone sensors of vision .   Earlier attempts at such measurements , but based on much simpler technology , had been made in 1860 by the English physicist James Clerk Maxwell ( 1831 -- 1879 ) . Using newly development spectrophotometric equipment and modifications of the experimental procedure König and Dieterici published a more detailed paper in 1892 , determining the `` fundamental sensations '' not only of subjects with normal color vision ( trichromats ) but also of dichromats and monochromats .   With these measurements König provided evidence for the conjecture that the most common form of color blindness , dichromacy , is due to the absence of one cone type in the eye . Averaged König functions were widely used in psychophysical color stimulus calculations until new data based on a slightly different method and involving many more observers were determined by J. Guild and W. D. Wright in the later 1920s , resulting in the recommendations of standard observer data by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage ( CIE , International Commission on Illumination ) in 1931 .   Other important investigations involve the sensitivity of the normal eye for differences in wavelength of light , dependence of the Newton/Grassmann laws of color mixture on light intensity ,  validity of Fechner 's law at different light intensities , brightness of spectral hues at different light intensities ,  and the similarity between the perceptual sensitivity of the rod cells and the absorption spectrum of the rod photopigment , rhodopsin .   König was very active as an editor . In 1889 he became the sole editor of Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft . From 1891 on , together with the psychologist H. Ebbinghaus , he edited the journal Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane . After Helmholtz 's death in 1894 König took on the task of completing preparations for the second edition of the former 's Handbuch der physiologischen Optik ( 1896 , Treatise on physiological optics ) to which he added a bibliography of vision consisting of nearly 8,000 titles .   König 's 32 papers on physiological optics were published posthumously in book form in 1903 .

negative: Chi-squared test A chi-squared test , also written as test , is any statistical hypothesis test wherein the sampling distribution of the test statistic is a chi-squared distribution when the null hypothesis is true . Without other qualification , ` chi-squared test ' often is used as short for Pearson 's chi-squared test .   Chi-squared tests are often constructed from a sum of squared errors , or through the sample variance . Test statistics that follow a chi-squared distribution arise from an assumption of independent normally distributed data , which is valid in many cases due to the central limit theorem . A chi-squared test can be used to attempt rejection of the null hypothesis that the data are independent .   Also considered a chi-squared test is a test in which this is asymptotically true , meaning that the sampling distribution ( if the null hypothesis is true ) can be made to approximate a chi-squared distribution as closely as desired by making the sample size large enough .  The chi-squared test is used to determine whether there is a significant difference between the expected  frequencies and the observed frequencies in one or more categories .

negative: Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization The Donald C. Backer Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization ( PAPER ) is a radio interferometer funded by the National Science Foundation to detect 21 cm hydrogen ( HI ) fluctuations occurring when the first galaxies ionized intergalactic gas at around 500 Million years after the Big Bang .  PAPER is a focused experiment aimed toward making the first  statistical detection of the 21 cm reionization  signal . Given the stringent dynamic range requirements for detecting  reionization in the face of foregrounds that are five orders of  magnitude brighter , the PAPER  project is taking a carefully staged engineering approach , optimizing  each component in the array to mitigate , at the outset , any  potentially debilitating problems in subsequent data calibration and  analysis . This staged approach addresses the  observational challenges that arise from  very-wide-field , high-dynamic-range imaging over wide bandwidths  in the presence of transient terrestrial interference .  PAPER began as a collaboration between Don Backer of the UC Berkeley Radio Astronomy Laboratory and Richard Bradley of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory . With Backer 's passing in 2010 , Aaron Parsons has assumed leadership of PAPER on the side of UC Berkeley .   The two fundamental concerns that most influence the design of any HI  reionization detection instrument are removing foregrounds and  achieving the requisite sensitivity . The PAPER approach heavily  emphasizes the former ; the level of instrumental calibration and  foreground characterization that will be required to model and remove  polarized galactic synchrotron emission , continuum point-sources , and  galactic/extra-galactic free-free emission is unprecedented in the  100-200 MHz band expected to encompass reionization .   PAPER consists of two distinct arrays : one located at the NRAO site in Green Bank , WV , which  is used primarily for engineering investigations and field testing , and another located at the  South African SKA site in the Karoo desert of the Northern Cape , South Africa. , which is used for science observations .

negative: Multinomial test In statistics , the multinomial test is the test of the null hypothesis that the parameters of a multinomial distribution equal specified values . It is used for categorical data ; see Read and Cressie .   We begin with a sample of items each of which has been observed to fall into one of categories . We can define as the observed numbers of items in each cell . Hence .   Next , we define a vector of parameters , where : . These are the parameter values under the null hypothesis .   The exact probability of the observed configuration under the null hypothesis is given by   The significance probability for the test is the probability of occurrence of the data set observed , or of a data set less likely than that observed , if the null hypothesis is true . Using an exact test , this is calculated as   where the sum ranges over all outcomes as likely as , or less likely than , that observed . In practice this becomes computationally onerous as and increase so it is probably only worth using exact tests for small samples . For larger samples , asymptotic approximations are accurate enough and easier to calculate .   One of these approximations is the likelihood ratio . We set up an alternative hypothesis under which each value is replaced by its maximum likelihood estimate . The exact probability of the observed configuration under the alternative hypothesis is given by     The natural logarithm of the ratio between these two probabilities multiplied by is then the statistic for the likelihood ratio test     If the null hypothesis is true , then as increases , the distribution of converges to that of chi-squared with degrees of freedom . However it has long been known ( e.g. Lawley 1956 ) that for finite sample sizes , the moments of are greater than those of chi-squared , thus inflating the probability of type I errors ( false positives ) . The difference between the moments of chi-squared and those of the test statistic are a function of . Williams ( 1976 ) showed that the first moment can be matched as far as if the test statistic is divided by a factor given by     In the special case where the null hypothesis is that all the values are equal to ( i.e. it stipulates a uniform distribution ) , this simplifies to     Subsequently , Smith et al. ( 1981 ) derived a dividing factor which matches the first moment as far as . For the case of equal values of , this factor is     The null hypothesis can also be tested by using Pearson 's chi-squared test   where is the expected number of cases in category under the null hypothesis . This statistic also converges to a chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom when the null hypothesis is true but does so from below , as it were , rather than from above as does , so may be preferable to the uncorrected version of for small samples .

negative: Joan Lee Tu Joan Lee ( 1981 ) is a Canadian linguist and data scientist . Her Master of Arts thesis entitled What does txting do 2 language : The influences of exposure to messaging and print media on acceptability constraints ( 2011 ) made a notable contribution to the academic literature on text messaging . The thesis used acceptability judgment tasks to test a relationship between exposure to text messaging and word acceptance . It received international media attention .   Lee 's lesser known works include the paper The opacity of s-irregular verbs in Korean : Confronting Optimality Theory approaches ( 2011 ) which was written in 2005 , and later published in the Calgary Papers in Linguistics . Lee also presented the paper The distribution of Turkish articles : Implications for L2 English at the Linguistic Society of America 2006 Summer Meeting in East Lansing , Michigan .


query: The 2007's early start to Daylight Saving Time contributed to global warming.

positive: Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone ( ET ) is a time zone encompassing 17 U.S. states in the eastern part of the contiguous United States , parts of eastern Canada , the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico , Panama in Central America , and the Caribbean Islands .   Places that use Eastern Standard Time ( EST ) when observing standard time ( autumn/winter ) are 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC − 05:00 ) .   Eastern Daylight Time ( EDT ) , when observing daylight saving time DST ( spring/summer ) is 4 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC − 04:00 ) .   In the northern parts of the time zone , on the second Sunday in March , at 2:00 a.m. EST , clocks are advanced to 3:00 a.m. EDT leaving a one-hour `` gap '' . On the first Sunday in November , at 2:00 a.m. EDT , clocks are moved back to 1:00 a.m. EST , thus `` duplicating '' one hour . Southern parts of the zone ( Panama and the Caribbean ) do not observe daylight saving time .

positive: Daylight saving time in the United States Daylight saving time in the United States is the practice of setting the clock forward by one hour during the warmer part of the year , so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less . Most areas of the United States observe daylight saving time ( DST ) , the exceptions being Arizona ( except for the Navajo , who do observe daylight saving time on tribal lands ) , Hawaii , and the overseas territories of American Samoa , Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , Puerto Rico , and the United States Virgin Islands . In general , daylight time is not observed in lower-latitude regions , as summer days are not much longer than winter ones as in higher latitudes , so the advantage of the change is smaller .   Daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November , with the time changes taking place at 2:00 a.m. local time . With a mnemonic word play referring to seasons , clocks `` spring forward and fall back '' -- that is , in springtime the clocks are moved forward from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. , and in fall they are moved back from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Daylight saving time lasts for a total of 34 weeks ( 238 days ) every year , about 65 % of the entire year ( including leap years ) .   The following table lists recent past and near future starting and ending dates of daylight saving time in the United States :

positive: Daylight saving time Daylight saving time ( abbreviated DST ) , also sometimes erroneously referred to as daylight savings time , is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months so that evening daylight lasts longer , while sacrificing normal sunrise times . Typically , regions that use daylight saving time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring and adjust them backward in the autumn to standard time .   American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784 . He wrote an essay `` An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light '' to the editor of The Journal of Paris , suggesting , somewhat jokingly , that Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning , making use of the natural morning light instead . New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of daylight saving in 1895 . The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation , starting on April 30 , 1916 . Many countries have used it at various times since then , particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s .   The practice has both advocates and critics . Some early proponents of DST aimed to reduce evening use of incandescent lighting -- once a primary use of electricity -- today 's heating and cooling usage patterns differ greatly , and research about how DST affects energy use is limited and contradictory .   DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel , billing , record keeping , medical devices , heavy equipment , and sleep patterns . Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically , but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates and timings may be confusing .

negative: Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC − 8 ) . During daylight saving time , its time offset is UTC − 7 and is thus based on the mean solar time of the 105th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory .   In the United States and Canada , this time zone is generically called the Pacific Time Zone ( PT ) . Specifically , it uses Pacific Standard Time ( PST ) when observing standard time ( late autumn to early spring ) , and Pacific Daylight Time ( PDT ) when observing daylight saving time ( early spring to late autumn ) . Most of Canada uses daylight saving time . In Mexico , the UTC − 8 time zone is known as the Northwest Zone , which is synchronized with the U.S. PDT daylight saving schedule .   The largest city in the Pacific Time Zone is Los Angeles ; the city 's metropolitan area is the largest in the zone .   The zone is two hours ahead of the Hawaii -- Aleutian Time Zone , one hour ahead of the Alaska Time Zone , one hour behind the Mountain Time Zone , two hours behind the Central Time Zone , and three hours behind the Eastern Time Zone .

negative: Standard Time Act The Standard Time Act of 1918 , also known as the Calder Act , was the first United States federal law implementing Standard time and Daylight saving time in the United States . It authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to define each time zone .   The section concerning daylight saving time was repealed by the act titled An Act For the repeal of the daylight-saving law , , over President Woodrow Wilson 's veto .   Section 264 of the act mistakenly placed most of the state of Idaho ( south of Salmon River ( Idaho ) ) in UTC − 06:00 CST Central Standard Time , but was amended in 2007 by Congress to UTC − 07:00 MST Mountain Standard Time . MST was observed prior to the correction .

negative: Daylight saving time in the Americas Daylight saving time in the Americas is the arrangement in the Americas by which clocks are advanced by one hour in spring and moved back in autumn , to make the most of seasonal daylight . The practice is widespread in North America , with most of Canada , Mexico and the United States participating , but much less so in South America .

negative: Daylight saving time in Iran Before 1979 , Daylight saving time was observed in Iran . Thereafter it was abandoned until 1989 , when it started on the first day of Farvardin ( 21 -- 22 March ) in the Iranian calendar and ended on the last day of Shahrivar ( 21 -- 22 September ) . In the Spring of 2006 , the government of Iran ceased observing DST . However in September 2007 , the Majlis ( Iranian parliament ) passed a law restoring daylight saving time starting from March 21 , 2008 , despite opposition by the contemporary government .

negative: Daylight Saving Act of 1917 The Daylight Saving Act of 1917 was enacted by the Dominion of Newfoundland to adopt daylight saving time ( DST ) , thus making it one of the first jurisdictions in North America to do so , only a year after the United Kingdom on May 21 , 1916 . DST was not instituted in the United States until March 31 , 1918 .

negative: UTC−04:00 UTC − 04:00 is a time offset that subtracts 4 hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC ) .  It is observed in the Eastern Time Zone ( e.g. , Canada and the United States ) during the warm months of daylight saving time , as Eastern Daylight Time . The Atlantic Time Zone observes it during standard time ( cold months ) .  It is observed all year in the Eastern Caribbean .

negative: Daylight saving time in Mexico Mexico adopted daylight saving time ( Spanish : horario de verano ) nationwide in 1996 , even in its tropical regions , because of its increasing economic ties to the United States . Although the United States has changed the schedule for DST beginning in 2007 , only the municipalities located less than 20 km from the border have adopted the change . Daylight saving time for Mexico begins the first Sunday of April and ends last Sunday of October ; and is usually referred to as the `` Summer Schedule '' ( Horario de Verano ) .  Add one hour .

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

negative: Time in Samoa Samoa uses UTC +13:00 as standard time and UTC +14:00 as daylight saving time , which it observes during summer in the southern hemisphere . In 2011 , daylight saving time ended on Saturday 2 April 2011 , 04:00 local daylight time and started on Sunday 24 September 2011 , 03:00 local standard time . Due to its location in the South Pacific Ocean , Samoa traditionally did not observe daylight saving time . Initially planned for 2009 , the introduction of daylight saving time in Samoa was postponed for one year due to the aftermath of the 2009 Samoa tsunami .   Being located just west of the International Date Line , Samoa is among the first places on earth to see each new day , along with Tonga , Tokelau ( during Standard Time ) and parts of Kiribati .

negative: Daylight saving time in Pakistan Pakistan has experimented with Daylight Saving Time ( DST ) a number of times since 2002 , shifting local time from UTC +05:00 to UTC +06:00 during various summer periods , having the effect of making Pakistan counter-intuitively half an hour ahead of India during those times , even though India is generally to its east .   In 2002 , DST was observed from the first Sunday in April ( April 7 ) at 00:00 to the first Sunday in October ( October 6 ) at 00:00 . The government cabinet decided to do this `` in order to make maximum use of daylight and to save energy . ''  In 2008 , DST began on June 1 , and was initially set to run through August 31 to meet the annual shortfall of 4 gigawatts of electricity instead of enforcing daily power cuts in households and factories . The government later extended the end date to October 31 , including the holy month of Ramadan ( which began in early September ) . DST was originally meant to end on August 31 , 2008  In 2009 , DST was observed from April 15 through October 31 .

negative: Climate change Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time ( i.e. , decades to millions of years ) . Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions , or in the time variation of weather around longer-term average conditions ( i.e. , more or fewer extreme weather events ) . Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes , variations in solar radiation received by Earth , plate tectonics , and volcanic eruptions . Certain human activities have been identified as primary causes of ongoing climate change , often referred to as global warming .   Scientists actively work to understand past and future climate by using observations and theoretical models . A climate record -- extending deep into the Earth 's past -- has been assembled , and continues to be built up , based on geological evidence from borehole temperature profiles , cores removed from deep accumulations of ice , floral and faunal records , glacial and periglacial processes , stable-isotope and other analyses of sediment layers , and records of past sea levels . More recent data are provided by the instrumental record . General circulation models , based on the physical sciences , are often used in theoretical approaches to match past climate data , make future projections , and link causes and effects in climate change .

negative: Daylight saving time in Australia The choice of whether to use daylight saving time ( DST ) in Australia is a matter for the individual states and territories . However , during World War I and World War II all states and territories had daylight saving . In 1968 Tasmania became the first state since the war to practise daylight saving . In 1971 , New South Wales , Victoria , Queensland , South Australia , and the Australian Capital Territory followed Tasmania by observing daylight saving . Western Australia and the Northern Territory did not . Queensland abandoned daylight saving time in 1972 . Queensland and Western Australia have observed daylight saving over the past 40 years from time to time on trial bases .   New South Wales , the Australian Capital Territory , Victoria , Tasmania and South Australia observe DST every year . This has resulted in three time zones becoming five during the daylight-saving period . South Australia time becomes UTC +10:30 , called Central Daylight Time ( CDT ) , possibly with `` Australia '' prefixed ( ACDT ) . The time in the southeastern states becomes UTC +11 , using `` Eastern '' in the time zone name , Eastern Daylight Time ( EDT ) , respectively Australia Eastern Daylight Time ( AEDT ) .   Officially , the change to and from DST takes place at 2:00 am local standard time ( which is 3:00 am DST ) on the appropriate Sunday .   Of the states that observe DST , most began on the last Sunday in October , and ended on the last Sunday in March , until 2008 . Tasmania , owing to its further southern latitude began DST earlier , on the first Sunday in October , and ended on the first Sunday of April .   On 12 April 2007 , New South Wales , Victoria , Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory agreed to common starting and finishing dates for DST . From the 2008/09 period , the start of DST in these states and in South Australia commences on the first Sunday in October and ends on the first Sunday in April . Western Australia became the only state to observe daylight saving from the last Sunday in October to the last Sunday in March . Since 2009 Western Australia no longer observes daylight saving .   Queensland ( AEST UTC +10 ) , Northern Territory ( ACST UTC +9:30 ) and Western Australia ( AWST UTC +8 ) do not observe DST .

negative: Daylight saving time in Paraguay Paraguay observes DST under decree 1867 of March 5 , 2004 . DST ends on the second Sunday of March and starts on the first Sunday of October .   In 2007 , DST started on October 15 , 2006 and ended on March 11 , 2007 .   In 2010 , Paraguay changed its own DST rules because of the energy crisis , ending DST on the second Sunday in April , a month later than previous years . The start date remains unchanged .

negative: History of climate change science The history of the scientific discovery of climate change began in the early 19th century when ice ages and other natural changes in paleoclimate were first suspected and the natural greenhouse effect first identified . In the late 19th century , scientists first argued that human emissions of greenhouse gases could change the climate . Many other theories of climate change were advanced , involving forces from volcanism to solar variation . In the 1960s , the warming effect of carbon dioxide gas became increasingly convincing . Some scientists also pointed out that human activities that generated atmospheric aerosols ( e.g. , `` pollution '' ) could have cooling effects as well . During the 1970s , scientific opinion increasingly favored the warming viewpoint . By the 1990s , as a result of improving fidelity of computer models and observational work confirming the Milankovitch theory of the ice ages , a consensus position formed : greenhouse gases were deeply involved in most climate changes and human caused emissions were bringing discernible global warming . Since the 1990s , scientific research on climate change has included multiple disciplines and has expanded . Research has expanded our understanding of causal relations , links with historic data and ability to model climate change numerically . Research during this period has been summarized in the Assessment Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .   Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years . It may be a change in average weather conditions , or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions ( such as more or fewer extreme weather events ) . Climate change is caused by factors that include oceanic processes ( such as oceanic circulation ) , biotic processes , variations in solar radiation received by Earth , plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions , and human-induced alterations of the natural world . The latter effect is currently causing global warming , and `` climate change '' is often used to describe human-specific impacts .

negative: Time in the United States Time in the United States , by law , is divided into nine standard time zones covering the states and its possessions , with most of the United States observing daylight saving time ( DST ) for approximately the spring , summer , and fall months . The time zone boundaries and DST observance are regulated by the Department of Transportation . Official and highly precise timekeeping services ( clocks ) are provided by two federal agencies : the National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) ( an agency of the Department of Commerce ) ; and its military counterpart , the United States Naval Observatory ( USNO ) . The clocks run by these services are kept synchronized with each other as well as with those of other international timekeeping organizations .   It is the combination of the time zone and daylight saving rules , along with the timekeeping services , which determines the legal civil time for any U.S. location at any moment .

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: Standard time Standard time is the synchronization of clocks within a geographical area or region to a single time standard , rather than using solar time or a locally chosen meridian ( longitude ) to establish a local mean time standard . Historically , the concept was established during the 19th century to aid weather forecasting and train travel . Applied globally in the 20th century , the geographical areas became extended around evenly spaced meridians into time zones which ( usually ) centered on them . The standard time set in each time zone has come to be defined in terms of offsets from Universal Time . In regions where daylight saving time is used , that time is defined by another offset , from the standard time in its applicable time zones .   The adoption of standard time , because of the inseparable correspondence between time and longitude , solidified the concepts of halving the globe into an eastern and western hemisphere , with one prime meridian ( as well its opposite International Date Line ) replacing the various prime meridians that had previously been used .

negative: Daylight saving time in Mauritius Mauritius 's DST period started on the last Sunday in October , and ended on the last Sunday in March .   It was re-introduced in 2008  Mauritius did not repeat DST since 2009 .

negative: Daylight saving time in Argentina Since 2009 , Argentina is not observing daylight saving time ( DST ) and the entire country stays on UTC-03 :00 .   San Luis Province , which was previously in a different time zone than most of the country and which formerly observed DST , decided in April 2010 not to change its clocks back and to stay on UTC-3 all year round .   The most recent history of Argentina observing DST was from 2007 to 2009 . After a period of not observing DST , Argentina observed DST in some provinces in an attempt to save energy . For each period , the executive branch of the government set the specific start and end dates for DST , i.e. there was no fixed annual schedule .

negative: Thermal Credits Thermal credits is a new holistic concept which corresponds to the percentage of the climate impact saving obtained through mitigation and adaptation measures applied against global warming , taking as reference the global temperature rise projected in a given time scale . Thermal credits are measured in percentages of global warming reduction in a given time .

negative: 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 .

negative: Orbital forcing Orbital forcing is the effect on climate of slow changes in the tilt of the Earth 's axis and shape of the orbit ( see Milankovitch cycles ) . These orbital changes change the total amount of sunlight reaching the Earth by up to 25 % at mid-latitudes ( from 400 to 500 Wm − 2 at latitudes of 60 degrees ) . In this context , the term `` forcing '' signifies a physical process that affects the Earth 's climate .   This mechanism is believed to be responsible for the timing of the ice age cycles . A strict application of the Milankovitch theory does not allow the prediction of a `` sudden '' ice age ( rapid being anything under a century or two ) , since the fastest orbital period is about 20,000 years . The timing of past glacial periods coincides very well with the predictions of the Milankovitch theory , and these effects can be calculated into the future .

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: Daylight saving time in Egypt The history of daylight saving time in Egypt is complicated . It was cancelled in both 2015 and 2016 , after having been abolished and reinstated several times .

negative: Time in Jordan Time in Jordan is given by Arabia Standard Time ( AST ) ( UTC +02:00 ) , with an offset of one hour ( UTC +03:00 ) during the summer months . These changes do not necessarily occur on the same date every year . Daylight saving time typically starts late March or early April , and ends in late October .

negative: 2000s (decade) The 2000s ( pronounced `` two-thousands '' or `` twenty-hundreds '' ) was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1 , 2000 , and ended on December 31 , 2009 .   The growth of the Internet contributed to globalization during the decade , which allowed faster communication among people around the world .   The economic growth of the 2000s had considerable social , environmental and mass extinction consequences , raised demand for diminishing energy resources , and was still vulnerable , as demonstrated by the financial crisis of 2007 -- 08 .

negative: Daylight saving time in Canada Daylight saving time ( DST ) is now observed in all Canadian provinces , with the exception of most of Saskatchewan , which observes Central Standard Time year-round even though it is in the Mountain Zone , effectively putting it on DST year round . Under the Canadian Constitution , laws related to timekeeping are a purely provincial matter .   In regions where daylight-saving time is used , it commences on the second Sunday of March , and standard time restarts on the first Sunday in November .

negative: Daylight saving time in Oceania Parts of Australia , New Zealand , Fiji , Samoa and Tonga are areas of Oceania that currently observe daylight saving time ( DST ) .

negative: Sunlight Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun , in particular infrared , visible , and ultraviolet light . On Earth , sunlight is filtered through Earth 's atmosphere , and is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon . When the direct solar radiation is not blocked by clouds , it is experienced as sunshine , a combination of bright light and radiant heat . When it is blocked by clouds or reflects off other objects , it is experienced as diffused light . The World Meteorological Organization uses the term `` sunshine duration '' to mean the cumulative time during which an area receives direct irradiance from the Sun of at least 120 watts per square meter . Other sources indicate an `` Average over the entire earth '' of `` 164 Watts per square meter over a 24 hour day '' .   The ultraviolet radiation in sunlight has both positive and negative health effects , as it is both a principal source of vitamin D3 and a mutagen .   Sunlight takes about 8.3 minutes to reach Earth from the surface of the Sun . A photon starting at the center of the Sun and changing direction every time it encounters a charged particle would take between 10,000 and 170,000 years to get to the surface .   Sunlight is a key factor in photosynthesis , the process used by plants and other autotrophic organisms to convert light energy , normally from the Sun , into chemical energy that can be used to fuel the organisms ' activities .

negative: Exodus (Bertagna novel) Exodus is a science fiction novel written for teens to young adults by Julie Bertagna , published in August 2002 . The story is set on an island faced with the problem of a rising sea level , caused by melting ice caps and other forms of global warming . Mara must think of a way to save herself , the other villagers and , most importantly , the world . The book was short-listed for the Whitbread Children 's Book of the Year in 2002 . Exodus is part of a trilogy ; the sequel to the book is Zenith , published in 2007 , followed by Aurora , published in 2011 .   Julie Bertagna was inspired to write this book in 1999 , when she learned of two South Pacific Islands being engulfed by the sea as a result of global warming , forcing the people to find higher land . Bertagna started to investigate into the topic of global warming and the stories inspired her to write Exodus and its sequel Zenith .  The purpose of the book is to inform young readers about global warming and convince them that something must be done about it .

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

negative: Effects of climate change The effects of climate change may refer to :  Effects of global warming , the effects of current climate change  Historical impacts of climate change , during the early evolution and history of humans , prior to current global warming