query: Scientists say the recent climate agreement negotiated in Paris is not remotely ambitious enough to forestall a significant melting of Greenland and Antarctica, though if fully implemented, it may slow the pace somewhat.”

positive: Retreat of glaciers since 1850 The retreat of glaciers since 1850 affects the availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use , mountain recreation , animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt , and , in the longer term , the level of the oceans . Studied by glaciologists , the temporal coincidence of glacier retreat with the measured increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases is often cited as an evidentiary underpinning of global warming . Mid-latitude mountain ranges such as the Himalayas , Alps , Rocky Mountains , Cascade Range , and the southern Andes , as well as isolated tropical summits such as Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa , are showing some of the largest proportionate glacial losses .   Glacier mass balance is the key determinant of the health of a glacier . If the amount of frozen precipitation in the accumulation zone exceeds the quantity of glacial ice lost due to melting or in the ablation zone a glacier will advance ; if the accumulation is less than the ablation , the glacier will retreat . Glaciers in retreat will have negative mass balances , and if they do not find an equilibrium between accumulation and ablation , will eventually disappear .   The Little Ice Age was a period from about 1550 to 1850 when the world experienced relatively cooler temperatures compared to the present . Subsequently , until about 1940 , glaciers around the world retreated as the climate warmed substantially . Glacial retreat slowed and even reversed temporarily , in many cases , between 1950 and 1980 as global temperatures cooled slightly . Since 1980 , a significant global warming has led to glacier retreat becoming increasingly rapid and ubiquitous , so much so that some glaciers have disappeared altogether , and the existences of many of the remaining glaciers are threatened . In locations such as the Andes of South America and Himalayas in Asia , the demise of glaciers in these regions has the potential to affect water supplies in those areas .   The retreat of mountain glaciers , notably in western North America , Asia , the Alps and tropical and subtropical regions of South America , Africa and Indonesia , provide evidence for the rise in global temperatures since the late 19th century . The acceleration of the rate of retreat since 1995 of key outlet glaciers of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets may foreshadow a rise in sea level , which would affect coastal regions .

positive: Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement ( Accord de Paris ) is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation , adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020 . The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015 . It was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 ( Earth Day ) at a ceremony in New York . As of May 2017 , 195 UNFCCC members have signed the treaty , 147 of which have ratified it . After several European Union states ratified the agreement in October 2016 , there were enough countries that had ratified the agreement that produce enough of the world 's greenhouse gases for the agreement to enter into force . The agreement went into effect on 4 November 2016 .   The head of the Paris Conference , France 's foreign minister Laurent Fabius , said this `` ambitious and balanced '' plan is a `` historic turning point '' in the goal of reducing global warming .   One year on , the ratification of the Paris Agreement was celebrated by the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo by illuminating the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe , Paris ' most iconic monuments , in green .

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: Climate inertia Climate inertia describes the widespread inherent characteristic of the climate , ecological , and socio-economic systems . Inertia from anthropogenic impacts may be slow to become apparent , or could be irreversible if climate change crosses associated thresholds . Melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica take time to respond to the emissions of fossil fuel carbon in the climate system . The global warming also causes thermal inertia , thermal expansion of the oceans , which contributes to sea level rise . It has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 meters for each degree of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years .

negative: Climate change in the Arctic The effects of global warming in the Arctic , or climate change in the Arctic include rising temperatures , loss of sea ice , and melting of the Greenland ice sheet with a related cold temperature anomaly , observed in recent years . Potential methane release from the region , especially through the thawing of permafrost and methane clathrates , is also a concern . The Arctic warms twice as fast compared to the rest of the world . The pronounced warming signal , the amplified response of the Arctic to global warming , it is often seen as a leading indicator of global warming . The melting of Greenland 's ice sheet is linked to polar amplification . According to a study published in 2016 , about 0.5 ◦ C of the warming in the Arctic has been attributed to reductions in sulfate aerosols in Europe since 1980 .

negative: United Nations Climate Change conference The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) . They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC Parties ( Conference of the Parties , COP ) to assess progress in dealing with climate change , and beginning in the mid-1990s , to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions . From 2005 the Conferences have also served as the `` Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol '' ( CMP ) ; also parties to the Convention that are not parties to the Protocol can participate in Protocol-related meetings as observers . From 2011 the meetings have also been used to negotiate the Paris Agreement as part of the Durban platform activities until its conclusion in 2015 , which created a general path towards climate action .   The first UN Climate Change Conference was held in 1995 in Berlin .

negative: Global warming in Antarctica The effects of global warming in Antarctica may include rising temperatures and increasing snow melt .

negative: Ice2sea Ice2sea is a program of scientific research funded by the European Union 's Framework 7 Programme to study the effects of climate change on glaciation and the melting of ice caps and glaciers on sea level . The ice2sea project , a collaborative of 24 research institutions , which is headed by Prof David Vaughan , aims to reduce the uncertainty in sea-level projections which are of great economic and social importance to the European Union , especially as large areas of coastal area in Europe are below or less than a metre above sea level .   The 2007 fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) report highlighted ice sheets * as the most significant remaining uncertainty in projections of sea-level rise . Understanding about the crucial ice-sheet effects was `` too limited to assess their likelihood or provide a best estimate of an upper bound for sea-level rise '' .   Improved scientific results from ice2sea will feed directly into the fifth IPCC report ( due in 2013 ) to generate more accurate sea-level rise projections .   The initiative recently funded research by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany , which was published in Nature in 2012 , which predicts the disappearance of the 450000 km2 vast Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in east Antarctica by the end of the century which could add up to 4.4 mm of rise of sea level each year due to its melting alone .

negative: BASIC countries The BASIC countries ( also Basic countries or BASIC ) are a bloc of four large newly industrialized countries -- Brazil , South Africa , India and China -- formed by an agreement on 28 November 2009 . The four committed to act jointly at the Copenhagen climate summit , including a possible united walk-out if their common minimum position was not met by the developed nations .   This emerging geopolitical alliance , initiated and led by China , then brokered the final Copenhagen Accord with the United States . Subsequently , the grouping is working to define a common position on emission reductions and climate aid money , and to try to convince other countries to sign up to the Copenhagen Accord . However , in January 2010 , the grouping described the Accord as merely a political agreement and not legally binding , as is argued by the US and Europe .   The four countries also said they will announce their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 31 January 2010 as agreed in Copenhagen . Furthermore , the grouping discussed the possibility of providing financial and technical aid to the poorer nations of the G77 , and promised details after their Cape Town meeting in April 2010 . This move was apparently intended to share richer nations into increasing their funding for climate mitigation in poorer nations .   At the April 2010 meeting in Cape Town , environment ministers from the four countries called for a legally binding global agreement on long-term cooperative action under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) and its Kyoto Protocol , to be concluded at the next UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun , Mexico in November 2010 , or at the latest in South Africa by 2011 , saying that slow legislative progress in the United States should not be allowed to dictate the pace of global agreement . The group 's post-meeting statement also demanded that developed countries allow developing countries `` equitable space for development '' as well as providing them with finance , technology and capacity-building support , based on their `` historical responsibility for climate change '' .   Technical cooperation among the countries appears to be following , as in May 2010 South Africa , Brazil and India announced a joint programme to develop satellites .

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 .

negative: 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference was an international meeting of political leaders and activists to discuss environmental issues . It was held in Marrakech , Morocco from November 7 to 18 . The conference incorporated the twenty-second Conference of the Parties ( COP22 ) , the twelfth meeting of the parties for the Kyoto Protocol ( CMP12 ) , and the first meeting of the parties for the Paris Agreement ( CMA1 ) . The purpose of the conference was to discuss and implement plans about combatting climate change and to '' -LSB- demonstrate -RSB- to the world that the implementation of the Paris Agreement is underway '' . Participants work together to come up with global solutions to climate change .   The conference was presided over by Salaheddine Mezouar , the Moroccan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation . Approximately 20,000 participants were expected to attend .   On 2 May 2016 , events firm GL Events signed the service contract . The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations also lent its support to the preparation for COP 22 '' .

negative: DEN/ICE Agreements The DEN/ICE Agreements are a series of multilateral treaties that provide for the joint financing of air traffic control , communications , and meteorological services in Greenland , Iceland , and the Faroe Islands for civil aircraft crossing the North Atlantic Ocean above the 45th parallel north . The agreements were negotiated and are implemented within the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) , a specialized agency of the United Nations .

negative: Todd Stern Todd D. Stern ( born May 4 , 1951 ) served as the United States Special Envoy for Climate Change , leading talks at the United Nations climate change conferences and smaller sessions , appointed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on January 26 , 2009 . He was the United State 's chief negotiator at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement .   Stern previously served under the Bill Clinton administration as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary in the White House from 1993 to 1998 , during which time he also acted as the senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto Protocol and Buenos Aires negotiations .

negative: 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference __ NOTOC __   The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at the Bali International Conference Centre , Nusa Dua , in Bali , Indonesia , between December 3 and December 15 , 2007 ( though originally planned to end on 14 December ) . Representatives from over 180 countries attended , together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations . The conference encompassed meetings of several bodies , including the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( COP 13 ) , the 3rd Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol ( MOP 3 or CMP 3 ) , together with other subsidiary bodies and a meeting of ministers .   Negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol dominated the conference . A meeting of environment ministers and experts held in June called on the conference to agree on a road-map , timetable and ` concrete steps for the negotiations ' with a view to reaching an agreement by 2009 . It has been debated whether this global meeting on climate change has achieved anything significant at all .   Initial EU proposals called for global emissions to peak in 10 to 15 years and decline `` well below half '' of the 2000 level by 2050 for developing countries and for developed countries to achieve emissions levels 20-40 % below 1990 levels by 2020 . The United States strongly opposed these numbers , at times backed by Japan , Canada , Australia and Russia . The resulting compromise mandates `` deep cuts in global emissions '' with references to the IPCC 's Fourth Assessment Report .

negative: Paris Peace Conference Paris Peace Conference may refer to :   Congress of Paris ( 1856 ) , negotiations ending the Crimean War  Paris Peace Conference , 1919 , negotiations ending World War I  Paris Peace Treaties , 1947 , which ended World War II for most nations  Paris Peace Accords , 1973 treaty ending American involvement in the Vietnam War  The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in Paris and led to the Paris Agreement to fight global warming

negative: Intended Nationally Determined Contributions Intended Nationally Determined Contributions ( INDCs ) is a term used under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that all countries that signed the UNFCCC were asked to publish in the lead up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris , France in December 2015 . These intended contributions were determined without prejudice to the legal nature of the contributions . The term was intended as a compromise between `` quantified emissions limitation and reduction objective '' ( QUELROs ) and `` nationally appropriate mitigation actions '' ( NAMAs ) that the Kyoto Protocol used to describe the different legal obligations of developed and developing countries . Under the Paris Agreement , adopted in December 2015 , the INDC will become the first Nationally Determined Contribution when a country ratifies the agreement , unless they decide to submit a new NDC at the same time . Once the Paris Agreement is ratified , the NDC will become the first greenhouse gas targets under the UNFCCC that applied equally to both developed and developing countries . On 3 August 2016 China and US ratified 2015 agreement on INDC . Together they both constitute 38 % of total global emission , with China 's alone emitting total of 20 % . India that has a Global share of GHGs emission at 4.1 % of that of world ratified Paris climate agreement on October 2 , 2016 by depositing the Instrument of ratification with the United nations .

negative: European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica ( EPICA ) is a multinational European project for deep ice core drilling in Antarctica . Its main objective is to obtain full documentation of the climatic and atmospheric record archived in Antarctic ice by drilling and analyzing two ice cores and comparing these with their Greenland counterparts ( GRIP and GISP ) . Evaluation of these records will provide information about the natural climate variability and mechanisms of rapid climatic changes during the last glacial epoch .   The European Science Foundation EPICA Programme ( 1996 -- 2005 ) provides co-ordination for EPICA drilling activities at Dome Concordia and Kohnen Station , which are supported by the European Commission and by national contributions from Belgium , Denmark , France , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands , Norway , Sweden , Switzerland and the United Kingdom .   Deep drilling took place at two sites in Antarctica : Concordia Station at Dome C and Kohnen Station .   In 2008 the project received the Descartes Prize for Research .

negative: Abrupt climate change An abrupt climate change occurs when the climate system is forced to transition to a new climate state at a rate that is determined by the climate system energy-balance , and which is more rapid than the rate of change of the external forcing . Past events include the end of the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse , Younger Dryas , Dansgaard-Oeschger events , Heinrich events and possibly also the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum . The term is also used within the context of global warming to describe sudden climate change that is detectable over the time-scale of a human lifetime . One proposed reason for the observed abrupt climate change is that feedback loops within the climate system both enhance small perturbations and cause a variety of stable states .   Timescales of events described as ` abrupt ' may vary dramatically . Changes recorded in the climate of Greenland at the end of the Younger Dryas , as measured by ice-cores , imply a sudden warming of + 10 C-change within a timescale of a few years . Other abrupt changes are the + 4 C-change on Greenland 11,270 years ago or the abrupt + 6 C-change warming 22,000 years ago on Antarctica . By contrast , the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum may have initiated anywhere between a few decades and several thousand years . Finally , Earth Systems models project that under ongoing greenhouse gas emissions as early as 2047 , the Earth 's near surface temperature could depart from the range of variability in the last 150 years , affecting over 3 billion people and most places of great species diversity on Earth .

negative: Ice cap climate An ice cap climate is a polar climate where the temperature never exceeds 0 C . The climate covers areas in or near the polar regions , such as Antarctica and Greenland , as well as the highest mountaintops . Such areas are covered by a permanent layer of ice and have no vegetation , but they may have animal life , that usually feeds from the oceans . Ice cap climates are inhospitable to human life . Antarctica , the coldest continent on Earth , sustains no permanent human residents , but has some civil inhabitants in proximity to research stations in coastal settlements that are maritime polar and there are some communities that are situated in a transitional zone between the two climates , but barely qualify as a tundra . Some places like Antarctica had a different climate before having an ice cap climate

negative: Slow reading Slow reading is the intentional reduction in the speed of reading , carried out to increase comprehension or pleasure . The concept appears to have originated in the study of philosophy and literature as a technique to more fully comprehend and appreciate a complex text . More recently , there has been increased interest in slow reading as result of the slow movement and its focus on decelerating the pace of modern life .

negative: Post–Kyoto Protocol negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions Post-Kyoto negotiations refers to high level talks attempting to address global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions . Generally part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) , these talks concern the period after the first `` commitment period '' of the Kyoto Protocol , which expired at the end of 2012 . Negotiations have been mandated by the adoption of the Bali Road Map and Decision 1/CP .13 ( `` The Bali Action Plan '' ) .   UNFCCC negotiations are conducted within two subsidiary bodies , the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention ( AWG-LCA ) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol ( AWG-KP ) and were expected to culminate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in December 2009 in Copenhagen ( COP-15 ) ; negotiations are supported by a number of external processes , including the G8 process , a number of regional meetings and the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate that was launched by US President Barack Obama in March 2009 . High level talks were held at the meeting of the G8 +5 Climate Change Dialogue in February 2007 and at a number of subsequent G8 meetings , most recently leading to the adoption of the G8 leaders declaration `` Responsible Leadership for a Sustainable Future '' during the G8 summit in L ´ Aquila , Italy , in July 2009 .

negative: List of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC or FCCC ) is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development ( UNCED ) , informally known as the Earth Summit , held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992 . The objective of the treaty is to `` stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system '' .   The treaty itself set no binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms . In that sense , the treaty is considered legally non-binding . Instead , the treaty provides a framework for negotiating specific international treaties ( called `` protocols '' ) that may set binding limits on greenhouse gases .   The UNFCCC was opened for signature on 9 May 1992 , after an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee produced the text of the Framework Convention as a report following its meeting in New York from 30 April to 9 May 1992 . It entered into force on 21 March 1994 . As of December 2015 , UNFCCC has 197 parties .

negative: Effects of climate change on island nations Climate change is producing drastic changes to Earth processes and changing Earth 's environmental status quo . Especially pertinent to human development is the threat of climate change on island nations . As sea levels continue to rise , island peoples and cultures are being threatened . As the former President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands , Christopher Loeak , noted `` In the last year alone , my country has suffered through unprecedented droughts in the north , and the biggest ever king tides in the south ; and we have watched the most devastating typhoons in history leave a trail of death and destruction across the region . '' Efforts to combat theses environmental changes are ongoing and multinational . Particularly notable is the adoption of the Paris agreement at the UN Climate Summit in Paris in 2015 , which by no means an unqualified success , is certainly a step in the right direction in regards to fighting the effects of climate by aiming to slow the pace of global warming .

negative: Arctic resources race The Arctic resources race refers to the competition between global entities for newly available natural resources in the Arctic . As the ice in the Arctic melts at a record rate and the sea ice extent continues to decrease due to global climate change , the Arctic waters become more navigable and Arctic resources -- such as oil and gas , minerals , fish , as well as tourism and new trade routes -- are becoming more accessible . Under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea , five nations have the legal right to exploit the Arctic 's natural resources within their exclusive economic zones : Canada , Russia , Denmark , Norway , and the United States ( though the U.S. has yet to ratify the treaty , it considers the treaty to be customary international law and abides by it ) .   The Arctic region and its resources have recently been at the center of controversy and pose potential conflicts between nations that have differing opinions of how to manage the area , including conflicting territorial claims . In addition , the Arctic region is home to an estimated 400,000 indigenous people . If the ice continues to melt at the current rate , then these indigenous people are at risk of being displaced . The acceleration of ice depletion will contribute to climate change as a whole : melting ice releases methane , ice reflects incoming solar radiation , and without it will cause the ocean to absorb more radiation ( albedo effect ) , heating up the water causing more ocean acidification , and melting ice will cause a rise in sea level .

negative: Technological Innovation for Climate Change Mitigation

negative: United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement On June 1, 2017, United States President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would cease all participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, and begin negotiations to re-enter the agreement "on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers," or form a new agreement. In withdrawing from the agreement, Trump stated that "The Paris accord will undermine (the U.S.) economy," and "puts (the U.S.) at a permanent disadvantage." Trump stated that the withdrawal would be in accordance with his America First policy. In accordance with Article 28 of the Paris Agreement, a country cannot give notice of withdrawal from the agreement before three years of its start date in the relevant country, which was on November 4, 2016 in the case of the United States. The White House later clarified that the U.S. will abide by the four-year exit process. On November 4, 2019, the administration gave a formal notice of intention to withdraw, which takes 12 months to take effect.  Until the withdrawal took effect, the United States was obligated to maintain its commitments under the Agreement, such as the requirement to continue reporting its emissions to the United Nations. The withdrawal took effect on November 4, 2020, one day after the 2020 U.S. presidential election.While celebrated by some members of the Republican Party, international reactions to the withdrawal were overwhelmingly negative from across the political spectrum, and the decision received substantial criticism from religious organizations, businesses, political leaders of all parties, environmentalists, and scientists and citizens from the United States and internationally.Following Trump's announcement, the governors of several U.S. states formed the United States Climate Alliance to continue to advance the objectives of the Paris Agreement at the state level despite the federal withdrawal. As of July 1, 2019, 24 states, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico have joined the alliance, and similar commitments have also been expressed by other state governors, mayors, and businesses.Trump's withdrawal from the Paris agreement will impact other countries by reducing its financial aid to the Green Climate fund. The termination of the $3 billion U.S. funding will ultimately impact climate change research and decrease society's chance of reaching the Paris Agreement goals, as well as omit U.S. contributions to the future IPCC reports. Trump's decision will also affect the carbon emission space as well as the carbon price. The U.S.'s withdrawal will also mean that the spot to take over the global climate regime will be obtainable for China and the EU.President-elect Joe Biden vowed to rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in office.

negative: King Oscar Glacier King Oscar Glacier ( Kong Oscar Gletscher ) is one of several glaciers that drain the north-western part of the Greenland Ice Sheet into Melville Bay . As part of a comprehensive survey of Greenland 's glaciers that was published in 2006 , scientists documented that the mass balance -- the sum of gains through snow accumulation and losses through iceberg calving and melting -- of Kong Oscar and Greenland 's other north-western glaciers was strongly negative between 1996 and 2005 : they lost more ice than they gained . The pattern was similar to the ice sheet as a whole , which has been losing ice mass at an accelerating pace in the past decade .

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

negative: Climate governance In political ecology and environmental policy , climate governance is the diplomacy , mechanisms and response measures `` aimed at steering social systems towards preventing , mitigating or adapting to the risks posed by climate change '' . A definitive interpretation is complicated by the wide range of political and social science traditions ( including comparative politics , political economy and multilevel governance ) that are engaged in conceiving and analysing climate governance at different levels and across different arenas . In academia , climate governance has become the concern of geographers , anthropologists , economists and business studies scholars .   In the past two decades a paradox has arisen between rising awareness about the causes and consequences of climate change and an increasing concern that the issues that surround it represent an intractable problem .  Initially , climate change was approached as a global issue , and climate governance sought to address it on the international stage . This took the form of Multilateral Environmental Agreements ( MEAs ) , beginning with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCC ) in 1992 . With the exception of the Kyoto Protocol , international agreements between nations have been largely ineffective in achieving legally binding emissions cuts and with the end of the Kyoto Protocol 's first commitment period in 2012 , starting from 2013 there is no legally binding Global climate regime . This inertia on the international political stage contributed to alternative political narratives that called for more flexible , cost effective and participatory approaches to addressing the multifarious problems of climate change . These narratives relate to the increasing diversity of methods that are being developed and deployed across the field of climate governance .

negative: Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora The Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora is a set of measures agreed on the third `` Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting '' in Brussels 1964 as recommendation number VIII . It is part of the Antarctic Treaty System but has been designated no longer `` current '' in 2011 . Its Objective is to further international collaboration within the framework of the Antarctic Treaty to promote and achieve the objectives of protection , scientific study , and rational use of these fauna and flora .

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

negative: NICRA (disambiguation) NICRA may refer to :   Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association  National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture , India  Nickel-chromium alloy , properly NiCrA  Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement ( NICRA ) . The United States federal government agreement with nonprofit organizations and similar organizations for the rate at which it will reimburse indirect costs .


query: Rising CO2 increases atmospheric water vapor, which makes global warming much worse.

positive: Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a colorless gas with a density about 60 % higher than that of air ( 1.225 g/L ) that is odorless at normally encountered concentrations . Carbon dioxide consists of a carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms . It occurs naturally in Earth 's atmosphere as a trace gas at a concentration of about 0.04 percent ( 400 ppm ) by volume . Natural sources include volcanoes , hot springs and geysers , and it is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids . Because carbon dioxide is soluble in water , it occurs naturally in groundwater , rivers and lakes , ice caps , glaciers and seawater . It is present in deposits of petroleum and natural gas .   As the source of available carbon in the carbon cycle , atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary carbon source for life on Earth and its concentration in Earth 's pre-industrial atmosphere since late in the Precambrian has been regulated by photosynthetic organisms and geological phenomena . Plants , algae and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water , with oxygen produced as a waste product .   Carbon dioxide is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration . It is returned to water via the gills of fish and to the air via the lungs of air-breathing land animals , including humans . Carbon dioxide is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of sugars in bread , beer and winemaking . It is produced by combustion of wood and other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal , peat , petroleum and natural gas .   It is a versatile industrial material , used , for example , as an inert gas in welding and fire extinguishers , as a pressurizing gas in air guns and oil recovery , as a chemical feedstock and in liquid form as a solvent in decaffeination of coffee and supercritical drying . It is added to drinking water and carbonated beverages including beer and sparkling wine to add effervescence . The frozen solid form of , known as `` dry ice '' is used as a refrigerant and as an abrasive in dry-ice blasting .   Carbon dioxide is the most significant long-lived greenhouse gas in Earth 's atmosphere . Since the Industrial Revolution anthropogenic emissions - primarily from use of fossil fuels and deforestation - have rapidly increased its concentration in the atmosphere , leading to global warming . Carbon dioxide also causes ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid .

positive: Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas ( abbrev . GHG ) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range . This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect . The primary greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere are water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , and ozone . Without greenhouse gases , the average temperature of Earth 's surface would be about -18 ° C , rather than the present average of 15 ° C . In the Solar System , the atmospheres of Venus , Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect .   Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution ( taken as the year 1750 ) have produced a 40 % increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide , from 280 ppm in 1750 to 406 ppm in early 2017 . This increase has occurred despite the uptake of a large portion of the emissions by various natural `` sinks '' involved in the carbon cycle . Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ( i.e. , emissions produced by human activities ) come from combustion of fossil fuels , principally coal , oil , and natural gas , along with deforestation , soil erosion and animal agriculture .   It has been estimated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate , Earth 's surface temperature could exceed historical values as early as 2047 , with potentially harmful effects on ecosystems , biodiversity and the livelihoods of people worldwide . Recent estimates suggest that on the current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 ° C global warming , which the United Nations ' IPCC designated as the upper limit to avoid `` dangerous '' global warming , by 2036 .

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

negative: Climate change feedback Climate change feedback is important in the understanding of global warming because feedback processes may amplify or diminish the effect of each climate forcing , and so play an important part in determining the climate sensitivity and future climate state . Feedback in general is the process in which changing one quantity changes a second quantity , and the change in the second quantity in turn changes the first . Positive feedback amplifies the change in the first quantity while negative feedback reduces it .   The term `` forcing '' means a change which may `` push '' the climate system in the direction of warming or cooling . An example of a climate forcing is increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases . By definition , forcings are external to the climate system while feedbacks are internal ; in essence , feedbacks represent the internal processes of the system . Some feedbacks may act in relative isolation to the rest of the climate system ; others may be tightly coupled ; hence it may be difficult to tell just how much a particular process contributes . Forcings , feedbacks and the dynamics of the climate system determine how much and how fast the climate changes . The main positive feedback in global warming is the tendency of warming to increase the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere , which in turn leads to further warming . The main negative feedback comes from the Stefan -- Boltzmann law , the amount of heat radiated from the Earth into space changes with the fourth power of the temperature of Earth 's surface and atmosphere .   Some observed and potential effects of global warming are positive feedbacks , which contribute directly to further global warming . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 's ( IPCC ) Fourth Assessment Report states that `` Anthropogenic warming could lead to some effects that are abrupt or irreversible , depending upon the rate and magnitude of the climate change . ''

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

negative: Carbon dioxide flooding Carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) flooding is a process whereby carbon dioxide is injected into an oil reservoir in order to increase output when extracting oil .   When a reservoir 's pressure is depleted through primary and secondary production , carbon dioxide flooding can be an ideal tertiary recovery method . It is particularly effective in reservoirs deeper than 2,500 ft. , where will be in a supercritical state , with API oil gravity greater than 22 -- 25 ° and remaining oil saturation greater than 20 % . It should also be noted that carbon dioxide flooding is not affected by the lithology of the reservoir area , but simply by the reservoir porosity and permeability , so that it is viable in both sandstone and carbonate reservoirs .  By injecting CO2 into the reservoir , the viscosity of any hydrocarbon will be reduced and hence will be easier to sweep to the production well .   As an oil field matures and production rates decline , there is growing incentive to intervene and attempt to increase oil output utilizing tertiary recovery techniques ( also termed improved or enhanced oil recovery ) . Petroleum engineers assess available options for increasing well productivity , options that include chemical injection , thermal/steam injection , and CO2 injection . Based on data-gathering and computer simulations , the most optimal enhanced oil-recovery technique to maximize well-productivity is determined . To increase the rate of oil production , the pressure within the reservoir must be increased .   In CO2 flooding , the first step is injection of water into the reservoir , which will cause the reservoir pressure to increase . Once the reservoir has sufficient pressure , the next step is to pump the CO2 down through the same injection wells . The CO2 gas is forced into the reservoir to come into contact with the oil . This creates a miscible zone that can be moved more easily to the production well . Normally the CO2 injection is alternated with water injection and the water acts to sweep the oil towards the production zone .   CO2 flooding is the second most common tertiary recovery technique and is used in facilities around the world . In connection with greenhouse gas emissions and global warming , CO2 flooding sequesters underground and therefore offsets CO2 emissions elsewhere .

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

negative: Vapor pressure Vapor pressure or equilibrium vapor pressure is defined as the pressure exerted by a vapor in thermodynamic equilibrium with its condensed phases ( solid or liquid ) at a given temperature in a closed system . The equilibrium vapor pressure is an indication of a liquid 's evaporation rate . It relates to the tendency of particles to escape from the liquid ( or a solid ) . A substance with a high vapor pressure at normal temperatures is often referred to as volatile . The pressure exhibited by vapor present above a liquid surface is known as vapor pressure . As the temperature of a liquid increases , the kinetic energy of its molecules also increases . As the kinetic energy of the molecules increases , the number of molecules transitioning into a vapor also increases , thereby increasing the vapor pressure .   The vapor pressure of any substance increases non-linearly with temperature according to the Clausius -- Clapeyron relation . The atmospheric pressure boiling point of a liquid ( also known as the normal boiling point ) is the temperature at which the vapor pressure equals the ambient atmospheric pressure . With any incremental increase in that temperature , the vapor pressure becomes sufficient to overcome atmospheric pressure and lift the liquid to form vapor bubbles inside the bulk of the substance . Bubble formation deeper in the liquid requires a higher pressure , and therefore higher temperature , because the fluid pressure increases above the atmospheric pressure as the depth increases . More important at shallow depths is the higher temperature required to start bubble formation . The surface tension of the bubble wall leads to an overpressure in the very small , initial bubbles . Thus , thermometer calibration should not rely on the temperature in boiling water .   The vapor pressure that a single component in a mixture contributes to the total pressure in the system is called partial pressure . For example , air at sea level , and saturated with water vapor at 20 ° C , has partial pressures of about 2.3 kPa of water , 78 kPa of nitrogen , 21 kPa of oxygen and 0.9 kPa of argon , totaling 102.2 kPa , making the basis for standard atmospheric pressure .

negative: Vapor In physics a vapor ( American ) or vapour ( British ) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature , which means that the vapor can be condensed to a liquid by increasing the pressure on it without reducing the temperature . A vapor is different from an aerosol . An aerosol is a suspension of tiny particles of liquid , solid , or both within a gas .   For example , water has a critical temperature of 647 K , which is the highest temperature at which liquid water can exist . In the atmosphere at ordinary temperatures , therefore , gaseous water ( known as water vapor ) will condense into a liquid if its partial pressure is increased sufficiently .   A vapor may co-exist with a liquid ( or a solid ) . When this is true , the two phases will be in equilibrium , and the gas-partial pressure will be equal to the equilibrium vapor pressure of the liquid ( or solid ) .

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

negative: Atmospheric methane Atmospheric methane is the methane present in Earth 's atmosphere . Atmospheric methane concentrations are of interest because it is one of the most potent greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere . The 100-year global warming potential of methane is 28 . That is , over a 100-year period , it traps 28 times more heat per mass unit than carbon dioxide and 32 times the effect when accounted for aerosol interactions . Global methane levels , had risen to 1800 parts per billion ( ppb ) by 2011 , an increase by a factor of 2.5 since pre-industrial times , from 722 ppb , the highest value in at least 800,000 years . Its concentration is higher in the Northern Hemisphere since most sources ( both natural and human ) are located on land and the Northern Hemisphere has more land mass . The concentrations vary seasonally , with , for example , a minimum in the northern tropics during April − May mainly due to removal by the hydroxyl radical .   Early in the Earth 's history carbon dioxide and methane likely produced a greenhouse effect . The carbon dioxide would have been produced by volcanoes and the methane by early microbes . During this time , Earth 's earliest life appeared . These first , ancient bacteria added to the methane concentration by converting hydrogen and carbon dioxide into methane and water . Oxygen did not become a major part of the atmosphere until photosynthetic organisms evolved later in Earth 's history . With no oxygen , methane stayed in the atmosphere longer and at higher concentrations than it does today .   Methane is created near the surface , and it is carried into the stratosphere by rising air in the tropics . Uncontrolled build-up of methane in Earth 's atmosphere is naturally checked -- although human influence can upset this natural regulation -- by methane 's reaction with hydroxyl radicals formed from singlet oxygen atoms and with water vapor .

negative: Climate change mitigation scenarios Climate change mitigation scenarios are possible futures in which global warming is reduced by deliberate actions , such as a comprehensive switch to energy sources other than fossil fuels . A typical mitigation scenario is constructed by selecting a long-range target , such as a desired atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) , and then fitting the actions to the target , for example by placing a cap on net global and national emissions of greenhouse gases .   An increase of global temperature by more than 2 ° C has come to be the majority definition of what would constitute intolerably dangerous climate change with efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels per the Paris Agreement . Some climate scientists are increasingly of the opinion that the goal should be a complete restoration of the atmosphere 's preindustrial condition , on the grounds that too protracted a deviation from those conditions will produce irreversible changes .

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

negative: Convective instability In meteorology , convective instability or stability of an air mass refers to its ability to resist vertical motion . A stable atmosphere makes vertical movement difficult , and small vertical disturbances dampen out and disappear . In an unstable atmosphere , vertical air movements ( such as in orographic lifting , where an air mass is displaced upwards as it is blown by wind up the rising slope of a mountain range ) tend to become larger , resulting in turbulent airflow and convective activity . Instability can lead to significant turbulence , extensive vertical clouds , and severe weather such as thunderstorms .   Adiabatic cooling and heating are phenomena of rising or descending air . Rising air expands and cools due to the decrease in air pressure as altitude increases . The opposite is true of descending air ; as atmospheric pressure increases , the temperature of descending air increases as it is compressed . Adiabatic heating and adiabatic cooling are terms used to describe this temperature change .   The adiabatic lapse rate is the rate at which a rising or falling air mass lowers or increases per distance of vertical displacement . The ambient lapse rate is the temperature change in the ( non-displaced ) air per vertical distance . Instability results from difference between the adiabatic lapse rate of an air mass and the ambient lapse rate in the atmosphere .   If the adiabatic lapse rate is lower than the ambient lapse rate , an air mass displaced upward cools less rapidly than the air in which it is moving . Hence , such an air mass becomes warmer relative to the atmosphere . As warmer air is less dense , such an air mass would tend to continue to rise .   Conversely , if the adiabatic lapse rate is higher than the ambient lapse rate , an air mass displaced upward cools more rapidly than the air in which it is moving . Hence , such an airmass becomes cooler relative to the atmosphere . As cooler air is more dense , the rise of such an airmass would tend to be resisted .   When air rises , moist air cools at a lower rate than dry air . That is , for the same vertical movement , a parcel of moist air will be warmer than a parcel of dry air . This is because of the condensation of water vapor in the air parcel due to expansion cooling . As water vapor condenses , latent heat is released into the air parcel . Moist air has more water vapor than dry air , so more latent heat is released into the parcel of moist air as it rises . Dry air does not have as much water vapor , therefore dry air cools at a higher rate with vertical movement than moist air . As a result of the latent heat that is released during water vapor condensation , moist air has a relatively lower adiabatic lapse rate than dry air . This makes moist air generally less stable than dry air ( see convective available potential energy -LSB- CAPE -RSB- ) . The dry adiabatic lapse rate ( for unsaturated air ) is 3 C-change per 1,000 vertical feet ( 300 m ) . The moist adiabatic lapse rate varies from 1.1 to per 1,000 vertical feet ( 300 m ) .   The combination of moisture and temperature determine the stability of the air and the resulting weather . Cool , dry air is very stable and resists vertical movement , which leads to good and generally clear weather . The greatest instability occurs when the air is moist and warm , as it is in the tropical regions in the summer . Typically , thunderstorms appear on a daily basis in these regions due to the instability of the surrounding air .   The ambient lapse rate differs in different meteorological conditions , but , on average , is 2 C-change per 1,000 vertical feet ( 300 m ) .

negative: Cold trap (astronomy) In astronomy , a cold trap is a close to the surface layer of the atmosphere that is substantially colder than both the deeper and higher layers . The temperature of the air drops with increasing height above the surface of the earth reaching a low point ( which for the earth resides at about 20 kilometers height ) . It is called a trap because it keeps ascending gases with high melting points in by freezing them to a solid which then drops back to the planet surface . The most important gas to be kept in that way , on the Earth , is water vapor , which without the presence of a cold trap in the atmosphere would gradually escape or dissociate into space , making life impossible . However , because of the cold trap water vapor condenses into droplets of liquid water or tiny ice crystals , forming clouds . The cold trap retains one-tenth of one percentof the water in the atmosphere in the form of a vapor at high altitudes . The cold trap is also a layer which above ultraviolet intensity is strong , since higher up the amount of water vapor is negligible . Oxygen screens out ultraviolet intensity . Some astronomers believe that the lack of a cold trap is why the planets Venus and Mars both lost most of their liquid water early in their histories .

negative: Carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process involved in carbon capture and the long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide . Carbon sequestration involves long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to mitigate or defer global warming . It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases , which are released by burning fossil fuels .   Carbon dioxide is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological , chemical , and physical processes . Artificial processes have been devised to produce similar effects , including large-scale , artificial capture and sequestration of industrially produced using subsurface saline aquifers , reservoirs , ocean water , aging oil fields , or other carbon sinks .

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

negative: Atmospheric river An atmospheric river is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere . Atmospheric rivers consist of narrow bands of enhanced water vapor transport , typically along the boundaries between large areas of divergent surface air flow , including some frontal zones in association with extratropical cyclones that form over the oceans . Pineapple Express storms are the most commonly represented and recognized type of atmospheric rivers ; they are given the name due to the warm water vapor plumes originating over the Hawaiian tropics that follow a path towards California .   The term was originally coined by researchers Reginald Newell and Yong Zhu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 1990s , to reflect the narrowness of the moisture plumes involved . Atmospheric rivers are typically several thousand kilometers long and only a few hundred kilometers wide , and a single one can carry a greater flux of water than the Earth 's largest river , the Amazon River . There are typically 3 -- 5 of these narrow plumes present within a hemisphere at any given time . In the current research field of atmospheric rivers the length and width factors described above in conjunction with an integrated water vapor depth greater than 2.0 cm are used as standards to categorize atmospheric river events . However , as data modeling techniques progress , integrated water vapor transport ( IVT ) is becoming a more common data type used to interpret atmospheric rivers . Its strength lies in its ability to show the transportation of water vapor over multiple time steps instead of a stagnant measurement of water vapor depth in a specific air column ( IWV ) . In addition IVT is more directly attributed to orographic precipitation , a key factor in the production of intense rainfall and subsequent flooding .   Atmospheric rivers have a central role in the global water cycle . On any given day , atmospheric rivers account for over 90 % of the global meridional ( north-south ) water vapor transport , yet they cover less than 10 % of the Earth 's circumference .   They also are the major cause of extreme precipitation events that cause severe flooding in many mid-latitude , westerly coastal regions of the world , including the West Coast of North America , Western Europe , and the west coast of North Africa .   The significance atmospheric rivers have for the control of coastal water budgets juxtaposed against their creation of detrimental floods can be constructed and studied by looking at California and the surrounding coastal region of the western United States . In this region atmospheric rivers have contributed 30-50 % of total annual rainfall . In conjunction Californian land falling Atmospheric Rivers have been historically associated with approximately all major flooding events . The inconsistency of California 's rainfall is due to the variability in strength and quantity of these storms , which can produce strenuous effects on California 's water budget . The factors described above make California a perfect case study to show the importance of proper water management and prediction of these storms .  __ NOTOC __

negative: Global warming in Antarctica The effects of global warming in Antarctica may include rising temperatures and increasing snow melt .

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: Cap carbonate Cap carbonates are layers of distinctively textured carbonate rocks which typically form the uppermost layer of sedimentary sequences reflecting major glaciations in the geological record .   The rising temperatures , and increased oceanic surface area - due to reduced ice cover and rising sea levels - at the end of a glaciation increase the rate of precipitation .   High concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) must build up in the atmosphere to overcome the effect of the high reflectivity ( albedo ) of ice and allow temperatures to rise sufficiently to begin melting .   Increased precipitation dissolves carbon dioxide from the atmosphere , falling as a weak carbonic acid - acid rain .   This would weather exposed silicate and carbonate rock , including readily-attacked glacial debris , which would release large amounts of calcium . When washed into the ocean , these precipitate to form distinctively textured layers of carbonate sedimentary rock .   A heavily debated cap carbonate appears at the top of the Gaskiers glaciation , believed by many to be global in extent .

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: Rain Rain is liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then precipitated -- that is , become heavy enough to fall under gravity . Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth . It provides suitable conditions for many types of ecosystems , as well as water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation .   The major cause of rain production is moisture moving along three-dimensional zones of temperature and moisture contrasts known as weather fronts . If enough moisture and upward motion is present , precipitation falls from convective clouds ( those with strong upward vertical motion ) such as cumulonimbus ( thunder clouds ) which can organize into narrow rainbands . In mountainous areas , heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation which forces moist air to condense and fall out as rainfall along the sides of mountains . On the leeward side of mountains , desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by downslope flow which causes heating and drying of the air mass . The movement of the monsoon trough , or intertropical convergence zone , brings rainy seasons to savannah climes .   The urban heat island effect leads to increased rainfall , both in amounts and intensity , downwind of cities . Global warming is also causing changes in the precipitation pattern globally , including wetter conditions across eastern North America and drier conditions in the tropics . Antarctica is the driest continent . The globally averaged annual precipitation over land is 715 mm , but over the whole Earth it is much higher at 990 mm . Climate classification systems such as the Köppen classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes . Rainfall is measured using rain gauges . Rainfall amounts can be estimated by weather radar .   Rain is also known or suspected on other planets , where it may be composed of methane , neon , sulfuric acid , or even iron rather than water .

negative: Inversion (meteorology) In meteorology , an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude .   It almost always refers to a `` temperature inversion '' , i.e. an increase in temperature with height , or to the layer ( `` inversion layer '' ) within which such an increase occurs .   An inversion can lead to pollution such as smog being trapped close to the ground , with possible adverse effects on health . An inversion can also suppress convection by acting as a `` cap '' . If this cap is broken for any of several reasons , convection of any moisture present can then erupt into violent thunderstorms . Temperature inversion can notoriously result in freezing rain in cold climates .

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

negative: Low-carbon emission The main components of automobile exhaust are carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) and water vapor ( H2O ) . Carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas ( GHG ) and the most significant Greenhouse Gas emitted in the U.S. ( with 82-84 % of all U.S. emissions ) . Increases in carbon dioxide concentration are due primarily to fossil fuel use and land-use change .   The CO2 emission standards can be referred to the fuel or to the vehicle :   The European Union is moving towards fuel mandatory CO2 standards and USA has reflected it in the Greenhouse Gas Score .  There are information , but no mandatory , standards for CO2 limits in vehicle ( engine ) emissions , excepting some state regulations ( i.e. California ) . See hybrid vehicles .   CO2 mass emission in vehicles is measured in g/km ( g/mi * 0.621371192 = g/km ) .

negative: Mitigation of aviation's environmental impact Aviation affects the environment due to aircraft engines emitting noise , particulates , and gases which contribute to climate change and global dimming . Despite emission reductions from automobiles and more fuel-efficient ( and therefore less polluting ) turbofan and turboprop engines , the rapid growth of air travel in recent years contributes to an increase in total pollution attributable to aviation . In the EU , greenhouse gas emissions from aviation increased by 87 % between 1990 and 2006 .   At present aviation accounts for 2.5 % of global CO2 emissions . Due to projected growth in air travel , in the most technologically radical scenarios for having a better than 50 % chance of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius , in 2050 aviation will make up 15 % of global CO2 emissions . In more conventional scenarios its emissions will exceed the entire global carbon budget before then . This presents governments and the operators of aircraft with a responsibility to reduce the aviation industry 's emissions .

negative: Methane Methane ( -LSB- ˈmɛθeɪn -RSB- or -LSB- ˈmiːθeɪn -RSB- ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula ( one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen ) . It is a group 14 hydride and the simplest alkane , and is the main constituent of natural gas . The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an attractive fuel , though capturing and storing it poses challenges due to its gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure .   Natural methane is found both below ground and under the sea floor . When it reaches the surface and the atmosphere , it is known as atmospheric methane . The Earth 's atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 150 % since 1750 , and it accounts for 20 % of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases ( these gases do n't include water vapor which is by far the largest component of the greenhouse effect ) .

negative: Cumulative effects (environment) Cumulative environmental effects can be defined as effects on the environment which are caused by the combined results of past , current and future activities . Over time , direct and indirect human activities combine to collectively impact the environment . These effects may differ from the original , individual activities . For example , ecosystems can be damaged by the combined effects of human activities , such as air , land , and/or water pollution , improper handling of industrial waste , and other human development activities . Global warming is the cumulative effect caused by too much greenhouse gas , and it may then cause a loss in biodiversity and acid rain . North America has contributed to creating various cumulative effects on the environment . Many states in the United States have inadequate or no formal environmental review requirements in order to assess the cumulative effects on the environment from harmful practices . The extent to which cumulative effects in each state are evaluated varies greatly . For example , some programs only require an assessment on specific natural resource issues and others require comprehensive examination of cumulative effects on the environment . Environmental assessments are a necessity to ensure the further advancement of healthy ecosystems , habitats , and wildlife .

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

negative: Carbon leakage Carbon leakage occurs when there is an increase in carbon dioxide emissions in one country as a result of an emissions reduction by a second country with a strict climate policy .   Carbon leakage may occur for a number of reasons :  if the emissions policy of a country raises local costs , then another country with a more relaxed policy may have a trading advantage . If demand for these goods remains the same , production may move offshore to the cheaper country with lower standards , and global emissions will not be reduced .  if environmental policies in one country add a premium to certain fuels or commodities , then the demand may decline and their price may fall . Countries that do not place a premium on those items may then take up the demand and use the same supply , negating any benefit .   There is no consensus over the magnitude of long-term leakage effects . This is important for the problem of climate change .   Carbon leakage is one type of spill-over effect . Spill-over effects can be positive or negative ; for example , emission reductions policy might lead to technological developments that aid reductions outside of the policy area .   `` Carbon leakage is defined as the increase in emissions outside the countries taking domestic mitigation action divided by the reduction in the emissions of these countries . '' It is expressed as a percentage , and can be greater or less than 100 % .   Carbon leakage may occur through changes in trading patterns , and that is sometimes measured as the balance of emissions embodied in trade ( BEET ) .

negative: Trace gas A trace gas is a gas which makes up less than 1 % by volume of the Earth 's atmosphere , and it includes all gases except nitrogen ( 78.1 % ) and oxygen ( 20.9 % ) . The most abundant trace gas at 0.934 % is argon . Water vapor also occurs in the atmosphere with highly variable abundance .

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

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