Two degree warming too much
The long-term temperature consequences of the Earth warming by 2°C by the year 2100 have been severely underestimated and urgent strategies of emission reduction are needed to reach a more sustainable target. An international research team that included Professor Eelco Rohling from the Research School of Earth Sciences , assessed current global warming targets and trends in fossil fuel exploitation and published their results today in the journal PLOS ONE. "Climate systems adjust slowly to temperature change, so any warming allowed by 2100 will be almost doubled in the following one or two centuries, even without further CO2 increase," says Professor Rohling. Their research revealed that to slow the rate of global warming, atmospheric CO2 levels must be reduced to 350 parts per million - 50 ppm lower than today's level. "A target of 1°C by 2100 keeps the planet within the limits of the last 10,000 years, during which modern society has evolved. Even after the system's slow adjustment, we will remain well within 2°C," says Professor Rohling. Professor Rohling says the world has already warmed 0.8°C since the industrial revolution, meaning mitigation strategies need to start within the next decade to achieve the revised target proposed in the study.
