Does "Global Warming Pause" Debate Miss Big Picture?

The Columbia Glacier in Alaska, seen in 2006 (top) and 2012 (bottom).

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, this week to iron out the final details of a widely anticipated report on the current state of global warming science. There has been much speculation about how the report will address an apparent decrease in the rate of warming over the past few years, dubbed a "global warming pause."