Earth System Sensitivity: a Feedback perspective
In the field of climate-change research a lot of effort is devoted to the ‘narrowing down’ of uncertainties in the estimation of Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS), the global mean warming as a result of an instantaneous doubling of the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere. The present study expl...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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2021
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2021-78 https://esd.copernicus.org/preprints/esd-2021-78/ |
| Summary: | In the field of climate-change research a lot of effort is devoted to the ‘narrowing down’ of uncertainties in the estimation of Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS), the global mean warming as a result of an instantaneous doubling of the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere. The present study explores possible consequences of this narrowing down of ECS for the long-term Earth system sensitivity (ESS), taking into account ‘slow’ feedbacks due to the cryosphere response (permafrost melting and ice-sheet disintegration) to a warming world. Implications for international policy making, aiming at avoiding 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, are briefly discussed. |
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