Because the past three years have shattered temperature records (see 'Temperature boost'), researchers have been exploring whether global warming is accelerating, and if so, why. Many scientists agree that the rate at which it is increasing has picked up. This is mainly because of a reduction in air pollution following the introduction of fuel regulations for international shipping (which has resulted in fewer pollutant particles that reflect sunlight into space and seed insulating clouds). In the data, 'you can practically see by eye that it has accelerated', says Stefan Rahmstorf, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Rahmstorf and Grant Foster, a statistician in Orono, Maine, say they have the strongest evidence yet that global warming has sped up, to a rate of around 0.35 'C per decade. That's faster than some other estimates2. But, the pair say their analysis captures a more accurate picture because of the way it accounts for and...
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