Melting glaciers
like the Equp Sermia glacier in West Greenland, is contributing to sea level
rise,
one of the most
noticeable effects of global warming. Image courtesy of Michele Koppes,
University of
British Columbia.
(February 8, 2016) The
Earth may suffer irreversible damage that could last tens of thousands of years
because of the rate humans are emitting carbon into the atmosphere.
In a new study in Nature Climate Change, researchers at
Oregon State University (link is external), Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory and collaborating institutions found that the longer-term impacts of
climate change go well past the 21st century.
“Much of the carbon we are putting in the air from burning
fossil fuels will stay there for thousands of years — and some of it will be
there for more than 100,000 years,” said Peter Clark, an Oregon State
University paleoclimatologist and lead author on the article. “People need to
understand that the effects of climate change on the planet won’t go away, at
least not for thousands of generations.”
LLNL’s Benjamin Santer said the focus on climate change at
the end of the 21st century needs to be shifted toward a much longer-term
perspective.
“Our greenhouse gas emissions today produce climate-change
commitments for many centuries to come,” Santer said. “Today’s actions — or
inaction — will have long-term climate consequences for generations of our
descendants.”