Query: satellites confirmed measurements from ground stations show a considerable, and naturally-occurring, global brightening from 1983-2001 (Pinker et al., 2005).

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Global dimming <=SEP=> Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the Earth 's surface that was observed for several decades after the start of systematic measurements in the 1950s . The effect varies by location , but worldwide it has been estimated to be of the order of a 4 % reduction over the three decades from 1960 -- 1990 . However , after discounting an anomaly caused by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 , a very slight reversal in the overall trend has been observed .   Global dimming is thought to have been caused by an increase in particulates such as sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere due to human action .   It has interfered with the hydrological cycle by reducing evaporation and may have reduced rainfall in some areas . Global dimming also creates a cooling effect that may have partially counteracted the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming .

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe <=SEP=> The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe ( WMAP ) , originally known as the Microwave Anisotropy Probe ( MAP ) , was a spacecraft operating from 2001 to 2010 which measured temperature differences across the sky in the cosmic microwave background ( CMB ) -- the radiant heat remaining from the Big Bang . Headed by Professor Charles L. Bennett of Johns Hopkins University , the mission was developed in a joint partnership between the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Princeton University . The WMAP spacecraft was launched on June 30 , 2001 from Florida . The WMAP mission succeeded the COBE space mission and was the second medium-class ( MIDEX ) spacecraft in the NASA Explorers program . In 2003 , MAP was renamed WMAP in honor of cosmologist David Todd Wilkinson ( 1935 -- 2002 ) , who had been a member of the mission 's science team . After 9 years of operations , WMAP was switched off in 2010 , following the launch of the more advanced Planck spacecraft by ESA in 2009 .   WMAP 's measurements played a key role in establishing the current Standard Model of Cosmology : the Lambda-CDM model . The WMAP data are very well fit by a universe that is dominated by dark energy in the form of a cosmological constant . Other cosmological data are also consistent , and together tightly constrain the Model . In the Lambda-CDM model of the universe , the age of the universe is billion years . The WMAP mission 's determination of the age of the universe to better than 1 % precision . The current expansion rate of the universe is ( see Hubble constant ) of . The content of the universe presently consists of ordinary baryonic matter ; cold dark matter ( CDM ) that neither emits nor absorbs light ; and of dark energy in the form of a cosmological constant that accelerates the expansion of the universe . Less than 1 % of the current contents of the universe is in neutrinos , but WMAP 's measurements have found , for the first time in 2008 , that the data prefers the existence of a cosmic neutrino background with an effective number of neutrino species of . The contents point to a Euclidean flat geometry , with curvature of . The WMAP measurements also support the cosmic inflation paradigm in several ways , including the flatness measurement .   The mission has won various awards : according to Science magazine , the WMAP was the Breakthrough of the Year for 2003 . This mission 's results papers were first and second in the `` Super Hot Papers in Science Since 2003 '' list . Of the all-time most referenced papers in physics and astronomy in the INSPIRE-HEP database , only three have been published since 2000 , and all three are WMAP publications . Bennett , Lyman A. Page , Jr. , and David N. Spergel , the latter both of Princeton University , shared the 2010 Shaw Prize in astronomy for their work on WMAP . Bennett and the WMAP science team were awarded the 2012 Gruber Prize in cosmology .   As of October 2010 , the WMAP spacecraft is derelict in a heliocentric graveyard orbit after 9 years of operations . All WMAP data are released to the public and have been subject to careful scrutiny . The final official data release was the nine-year release in 2012 .   Some aspects of the data are statistically unusual for the Standard Model of Cosmology . For example , the largest angular-scale measurement , the quadrupole moment , is somewhat smaller than the Model would predict , but this discrepancy is not highly significant . A large cold spot and other features of the data are more statistically significant , and research continues into these .

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 .