Pioneering scientist says global warming is accelerating. Some experts call his claims overheated

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

One of modern climate science’s pioneers is warning that the world isn’t just steadily warming, but is dangerously accelerating. But some other scientists are calling the work a bit overheated. Thursday’s work from former NASA top scientist James Hansen illustrates a recently surfaced division among climate scientists about whether global warming has kicked into a new and even more dangerous gear. Hansen says that since 2010 the rate of warming has jumped by 50%. He cited a dramatic increase in the amount of the sun’s energy trapped on Earth coinciding with the decrease in particle pollution that exerts a slight cooling effect.