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Burning All Fossil Fuels Would Scorch Earth, Says Study (phys.org)

mspohr quotes a report from Phys.Org: A new study published in the Journal Nature Climate Change shows our precarious climate condition: "Using up all known fossil fuel reserves would render Earth even more unlivable than scientists had previously projected, researchers said on Monday. Average temperatures would climb by up to 9.5 degrees Celsius (17 degrees Fahrenheit) -- five times the cap on global warming set at climate talks in Paris in December, they reported. In the Arctic region -- already heating at more than double the global average -- the thermometer would rise an unimaginable 15 C to 20 C." This would make most of Earth uninhabitable to humans (although the dinosaurs seemed to do fine with it 65 million years ago). The report also stated that if fossil fuel trends go unchanged, ten times the 540 billion tons of carbon emitted since the start of industrialization would be reached near the end of the 22nd century. For comparison, "older models had projected that depleting fossil fuel reserves entirely would heat the planet by 4.3 C to 8.4 C. The new study revises this to between 6.4 C and 9.5 C," writes Phys.Org.

3 of 418 comments (clear)

  1. This was published in Nature? by gdr · · Score: 0, Troll

    Anyone who makes predictions based on nothing changing for almost 200 years is an idiot.

  2. Re:of course it will burn.... IF by MightyMartian · · Score: 0, Troll

    It has to be wrong, because Jesus wouldn't let the wonderful substances known as oil and coal be harmful.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  3. Re:of course it will burn.... IF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Hay Slashdot admins, we need a mod option of "ID10T" for posts like this!

    The idea the plants don't sequester CO2 is just stupid and shows the lack of knowledge of the poster.