"Earth can get hotter by 25 degrees, shocking new climate study predicts
A shocking new study has made startling revelations about the rise in global temperatures. A team of scientists analysed Pacific Ocean sediments and found that the world can witness up to 14 degrees rise in temperatures, far more than what the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted.
Doubling atmospheric Carbon Dioxide can push levels beyond current expectations of 2.3 to 4.5 degrees Celsius (4.1 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit).
Researchers from NIOZ and the Universities of Utrecht and Bristol studied the Pacific sediments near California and found that Earth’s average temperature can rise by 7 to 14 degrees Celsius (13 to 25.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
“The temperature rise we found is much larger than the 2.3 to 4.5 degrees Celsius (4.1 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit) that the UN climate panel, IPCC, has been estimating so far,” said the study's first author, Caitlyn Witkowski.
A method developed 20 years ago at NIOZ, called the TEX86 method, was used to determine the past seawater temperature and to find hints of ancient atmospheric CO2 levels.
A 45-year-old drill core extracted from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean was used for the study. Professor Jaap Sinninghe Damsté, senior scientist at NIOZ and professor of organic geochemistry at Utrecht University, said, "The ocean floor at that spot has had oxygen-free conditions for many millions of years", which made it an attractive candidate.
The climate study
To derive past atmospheric CO2 content, researchers used the chemical composition of chlorophyll and cholesterol - the two substances commonly found in algae.
They found clues that indicate a dramatic drop in CO2 concentration 15 million years ago. It came down from 650 parts per million to 280 just before the industrial revolution.
When the scientists placed the derived temperature and atmospheric CO2 levels of the past 15 million years together, they found that the average temperature at that time was way beyond what we have today. It was on average 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit): four degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than current temperatures.
Worryingly, the IPCC predicts temperatures to reach this high in the year 2100 only if the Earth faces the most extreme scenario.
“So, this research gives us a glimpse of what the future could hold if we take too few measures to reduce CO2 emissions," Damsté said.
“The clear warning from this research is: CO2 concentration is likely to have a stronger impact on temperature than we are currently taking into account!”"
A shocking new study has made startling revelations about the rise in global temperatures. A team of scientists analysed Pacific Ocean sediments and found that the world can witness up to 14 degrees rise in temperatures, far more than what the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted.
Doubling atmospheric Carbon Dioxide can push levels beyond current expectations of 2.3 to 4.5 degrees Celsius (4.1 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit).
Researchers from NIOZ and the Universities of Utrecht and Bristol studied the Pacific sediments near California and found that Earth’s average temperature can rise by 7 to 14 degrees Celsius (13 to 25.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
“The temperature rise we found is much larger than the 2.3 to 4.5 degrees Celsius (4.1 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit) that the UN climate panel, IPCC, has been estimating so far,” said the study's first author, Caitlyn Witkowski.
A method developed 20 years ago at NIOZ, called the TEX86 method, was used to determine the past seawater temperature and to find hints of ancient atmospheric CO2 levels.
A 45-year-old drill core extracted from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean was used for the study. Professor Jaap Sinninghe Damsté, senior scientist at NIOZ and professor of organic geochemistry at Utrecht University, said, "The ocean floor at that spot has had oxygen-free conditions for many millions of years", which made it an attractive candidate.
The climate study
To derive past atmospheric CO2 content, researchers used the chemical composition of chlorophyll and cholesterol - the two substances commonly found in algae.
They found clues that indicate a dramatic drop in CO2 concentration 15 million years ago. It came down from 650 parts per million to 280 just before the industrial revolution.
When the scientists placed the derived temperature and atmospheric CO2 levels of the past 15 million years together, they found that the average temperature at that time was way beyond what we have today. It was on average 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit): four degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than current temperatures.
Worryingly, the IPCC predicts temperatures to reach this high in the year 2100 only if the Earth faces the most extreme scenario.
“So, this research gives us a glimpse of what the future could hold if we take too few measures to reduce CO2 emissions," Damsté said.
“The clear warning from this research is: CO2 concentration is likely to have a stronger impact on temperature than we are currently taking into account!”"
Earth can get hotter by 25 degrees, shocking new climate study predicts
A shocking new study has made startling revelations about the rise in global temperatures. A team of scientists analysed Pacific Ocean sediments and found that the world can witness up to 14 degrees rise in temperatures, far more than what the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
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