The debate may largely be drawn along political lines, but the human role in climate change remains one of the most controversial questions in 21st century science.

Researchers believe that they have discovered the location of the so-called "missing heat" that could have caused air temperatures to increase as greenhouse gas emissions over the past decade.

Current observational tools cannot account for roughly half of the heat that is believed to have built up on Earth in recent years, according to a "Perspectives" article in this week's issue of Science.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Someone hacked into the climate research unit at East Anglia University in England and divulged emails between scientists about their doubts about climate change.

Researchers declared Monday that many damaging effects of climate change are already irreversible, warning that even if carbon emissions can somehow be halted temperatures around the globe will remain high until at least the year 3000.