Climate May Be Less Sensitive To CO2 Than Previously Thought

a_hanso writes "A new study suggests that the effects of rising levels of carbon dioxide on temperature may be less significant than previously thought. 'The new models predict that given a doubling in CO2 levels from pre-industrial levels, the Earth's surface temperatures will rise by 1.7 to 2.6 degrees C. That is a much tighter range than suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report, which suggested a rise of between 2 to 4.5 degrees C."

Comments

Less Sensitive No Problem

[ElmoGonzo]

Confirming that anthropogenic CO2 does affect climate and proposing that the multiplier is slightly less than what others have suggested. Yawn.

Re:Let the informed battles begin

[Dwedit]

Pollution is what's saving the planet from global warming.
See the Global Dimming article on Wikipedia. There was also a NOVA episode on the subject.

More about oil re power generation

[fyngyrz]

Also, so does every gasoline and diesel fueled generator in the world, and that's probably a pretty hefty number.

See the thing is, if the gasoline and diesel burned in individual vehicles was instead burned in power plants, and fed to the vehicles as electricity, there would be a lot less consumption of gasoline and diesel overall, because those larger generation systems are a lot more efficient at getting power to the wheels, even given transmission line losses, charging losses, etc.

And, if the vehicles are electric, they become power-agnostic: you can "burn" anything.... oil, coal, nuclear, sunshine, hydro, congresscritters, and the cars don't have to change at all.

Ok, clearly, burning congresscritters would really be polluting, but the other stuff...

EVs make great sense. manufacturing them such that they serve us well in the roles we like to use them... we're not quite there. Soon, though, clearly.