The global warming controversy concerns the debate over the
existence of global warming, its causes and effects, and what (if any) actions
should be taken. In the scientific literature, there is a strong consensus that
global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend
is caused primarily by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. No
scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view,though
a few organizations hold non-committal positions.[6][dead link] Disputes over
the key scientific facts of global warming are now more prevalent in the
popular media than in the scientific literature, where such issues are treated
as resolved, and more in the United States than globally.
Primary issues concerning the existence and cause of climate
change include the reasons for the increase in global average air temperature,
whether the warming trend exceeds normal climatic variations, whether humankind
has contributed significantly to it, and whether the increase is wholly or
partially an artifact of poor measurements. Scientists have resolved many of
these questions decisively in favour of the view that the current warming trend
exists and is ongoing, that human activity is the primary cause, and that it is
without precedent in at least 2000 years. Additional disputes have concerned
estimates of how responsive the climate system might be to any given level of
greenhouse gases (climate sensitivity), projections of continued warming in
response to the existing build up of greenhouse gases plus future emissions,
and what the consequences of global warming will be. Although the primary
issues are regarded in the scientific literature as settled, these additional
disputes are still the subject of mainstream scientific debate.
Global warming remains an issue of widespread political
debate, sometimes split along party political lines, especially in the United
States. Many of the largely settled scientific issues, such as the human responsibility
for global warming, remain the subject of politically or economically motivated
attempts to downplay, dismiss or deny them – an ideological phenomenon
categorised by academics and scientists as climate change denial. The sources
of funding for those involved with climate science – both supporting and
opposing mainstream scientific positions – have been questioned by both sides.
There are debates about the best policy responses to the science, their
cost-effectiveness and their urgency. Climate scientists, especially in the US,
have reported official and oil-industry pressure to censor or suppress their
work and hide scientific data, with directives not to discuss the subject in
public communications. Legal cases regarding global warming, its effects, and
measures to reduce it, have reached American courts. The fossil fuels lobby,
oil industry advocates and free market think tanks have often been accused of
overtly or covertly supporting efforts to undermine or discredit the scientific
consensus on global warming.
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