Cooling trend

Environment | Global warming’s the hot topic, but one climate scientist exposes dissension in the expert ranks. “We wonder if we’ve oversold the science” | Becky Perry

The global warming debate heated up again on Feb. 2 when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that warming is "unequivocal" and that human activity is "very likely" the cause of increasing temperature, melting ice caps, and rising sea levels. The fourth IPCC report capped a solid month of publicity and momentum for the global warming movement:

First the internet buzz about drowning Arctic polar bears and premature cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.—never mind the bitter cold snap that descended on the capital last week.

Then a nod to global warming in the State of the Union, a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for An Inconvenient Truth's Al Gore, and House oversight hearings to investigate purported suppression of climate science research.