Point | Supporters | Opponents |
Earth's climate is warming (trend since 1880) | scientific consensus | a few lone doubters |
human activities are influencing that warming (in any measurable amount) | everyone | nobody |
human activities are primarily responsible for that warming | US liberals, most UN members | very few scientists |
CO2 (carbon dioxide) is increasing | scientific consensus | nobody |
CO2 increases are the result of human activity | scientific consensus | ? |
that modern global warming is mostly the result of human activity | IPCC, other government agencies | a couple dozen independent scientists, or is this under-reported? |
that scientific opinion on climate change almost unanimously supports the theory of Anthropogenic global warming (AGW) | Naomi Oreskes's literature search reported in Science, the IPCC, various government agencies, major environmental groups | Some surveys, various loudmouth Kyoto opponents |
that 1999 was the warmest year on record | Mann | M&M |
that scientists who are "skeptical of the global warming hysteria" are being bribed by lobbyists for the oil companies | bloggers (?) | Thomas Sowell |
scientists and economists "have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report." | The Guardian | Thomas Sowell; CNN: AEI acknowledges soliciting authors to examine both the "strengths and weaknesses" of the report and did offer an honoraria of $10,000. [2] |
that coastal cities are threatened by the higher ocean levels caused by melting ice caps—including London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong | The Guardian [1] | ? |