Query: “In 2009, then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown predicted that the world had only 50 days to save the planet from global warming.

Relevant passages:
2010 United Kingdom general election <=SEP=> The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system. The election resulted in a large swing to the Conservative Party similar to that seen in 1979; the Labour Party lost the 66-seat majority it had previously enjoyed, but no party achieved the 326 seats needed for a majority. The Conservatives, led by David Cameron, won the most votes and seats, but still fell 20 seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. This was only the second general election since the Second World War to return a hung parliament, the first being the February 1974 election. However, a hung parliament was anticipated this time, so politicians and voters were better prepared for the constitutional process that would follow such a result. The coalition government that was subsequently formed was the first to eventuate directly from a UK election. The hung parliament came about in spite of the Conservatives managing both a higher vote total and a higher share of the vote than the previous Labour government had done in 2005, when it secured a comfortable majority. A total of 149 sitting MPs stood down at the election, the highest since 1945, including many former New Labour Cabinet ministers such as former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Alan Milburn, Geoff Hoon, Ruth Kelly, James Purnell and John Reid. One reason for the very high number of MPs standing down was the parliamentary expenses scandal a year earlier. Coalition talks began immediately between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, and lasted for five days. There was an aborted attempt to put together a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition (although 11 seats from other smaller parties would have been required). To facilitate this, Gordon Brown announced on the evening of Monday 10 May that he would resign as Leader of the Labour Party. Realising that a deal between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats was imminent, Brown resigned the next day, on Tuesday 11 May, as Prime Minister, marking the end of 13 years of Labour government. This was accepted by Queen Elizabeth II, who then invited David Cameron to form a government in her name and become Prime Minister. Just after midnight on 12 May, the Liberal Democrats approved the agreement "overwhelmingly", sealing a coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. None of the three main party leaders had previously led a general election campaign, a situation which had not occurred since the 1979 election. During the campaign, the three main party leaders engaged in the first televised debates. The Liberal Democrats achieved a breakthrough in opinion polls after the first debate, in which their leader Nick Clegg was widely seen as the strongest performer. Nonetheless, on polling day their share of the vote increased by only 1%, with a net loss of five seats. This was still the Liberal Democrats' largest popular vote since the party's creation in 1988, and they found themselves in a pivotal role in the formation of the new government. The share of votes for parties other than Labour or the Conservatives was 35%, the largest since the 1918 general election. In terms of votes it was the most "three-cornered" election since 1923, and in terms of seats since 1929. The Green Party of England and Wales won its first ever seat in the House of Commons, and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland also gained its first elected member. The general election saw a 5.1% national swing from Labour to the Conservatives, the third-largest since 1945. The result in one constituency, Oldham East and Saddleworth, was subsequently declared void on petition because of illegal practices during the campaign, the first such instance since 1910.

Gordon Brown <=SEP=> James Gordon Brown ( born 20 February 1951 ) is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010 . He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Blair Government from 1997 to 2007 . Brown was a Member of Parliament ( MP ) from 1983 to 2015 , first for Dunfermline East and later for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath .   A doctoral graduate of the University of Edinburgh , Brown spent his early career working as both a lecturer at a further education college and a television journalist . He entered Parliament in 1983 as the MP for Dunfermline East . He joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1989 as Shadow Secretary of State for Trade , and was later promoted to become Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1992 . After Labour 's victory in 1997 , he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer , becoming the longest-serving holder of that office in modern history .   Brown 's time as Chancellor was marked by major reform of Britain 's monetary and fiscal policy architecture , transferring interest rate setting powers to the Bank of England , by a wide extension of the powers of the Treasury to cover much domestic policy and by transferring responsibility for banking supervision to the Financial Services Authority . Controversial moves included the abolition of advance corporation tax ( ACT ) relief in his first budget , and the removal in his final budget of the 10 % `` starting rate '' of personal income tax which he had introduced in 1999 . In 2007 , Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister and Labour Leader and Brown was chosen to replace him in an uncontested election .   After initial rises in opinion polls following Brown becoming Prime Minister , Labour 's popularity declined with the onset of a recession in 2008 , leading to poor results in the local and European elections in 2009 . A year later , Labour lost 91 seats in the House of Commons at the 2010 general election , the party 's biggest loss of seats in a single general election since 1931 , making the Conservatives the largest party in a hung parliament . Brown remained in office as Labour negotiated to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats . On 10 May 2010 , Brown announced he would stand down as leader of the Labour Party , and instructed the party to put into motion the processes to elect a new leader . Labour 's attempts to retain power failed and on 11 May , he officially resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party . He was succeeded as Prime Minister by David Cameron , and as Leader of the Labour Party by Ed Miliband .   Later , Brown played a prominent role in the campaign surrounding the Scottish independence referendum of 2014 , galvanising support behind maintaining the union .

Global warming <=SEP=> 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 .