sexta-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2011

AGU FM11 - Paleoclimate record points toward potential rapid climate changes




Press Conference from 2011 AGU Fall Meeting - Tue. 11 a.m. PST

Even if we are able to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, Earth could likely see drastic and rapid climate change this century, new research by NASA's Jim Hansen suggests. Paleoclimate data paints a different picture than models about the sensitivity of the climate system. Detailed analysis of the Earth's paleoclimate history of recent interglacial periods reveals we are less than a degree Celsius away from equaling a time when sea level was several meters higher than it is today.

Participants:
James Hansen
Director, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA;
Ken Caldeira
Senior Scientist, Department of Global Ecology Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA;
Eelco Rohling
Professor of Ocean and Climate Change, Southampton University, Southampton, United Kingdom.