How bad will climate change get?: Factors and mechanisms of global warming

• Main Author: White, Joseph F.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ University of South Florida 2009
• Subjects: Climatic changes; Global warming; American Studies; Arts and Humanities; Ocean acidification; permafrost
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/honors_gast/7; https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/honors_gast/article/1006/viewcontent/DOCUMENT_PDF.pdf

This report attempted to answer the question, “How Bad Will Climate Change Get?”. This was accomplished by, first, presenting a current assessment on the science of Global Warming. Factors and causes were analyzed with heavy emphasis on the paleoclimate record and the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. The report, which released in 2007, is considered by many scientists to be too optimistic and conservative as it neglects to account for various feedback mechanisms and other drivers that can impact climate. Thus, the next part of this report does a thorough and complete review of all mechanisms that can drive future climates. Next, this data is synthesized to produce a clearer projection of future climate. Ultimately, it is found that the IPCC was too conservative in its estimate because it neglected various positive feedback loops including methane clathrate release, permafrost biological decay, ocean currents, ocean acidification, water vapor, and surface albedo effects.