Legacy of Climate Change

From the article "Contributions of past and present human generations to committed warming caused by carbon dioxide" by Pierre Friedlingstein and Susan Solomon. Sorry, I can't post a link to this yet because it hasn't published yet, but it will some time this week here.

Even if carbon dioxide emissions were completely eliminated today, the current generation will have ensured that their children and grandchildren will experience continued global warming, according to newly published research. The study by Pierre Friedlingstein and Susan Solomon reports that, even with no new emissions, it would take until 2100 to reduce the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide to those present in 1975. Carbon dioxide is a long-lived gas in the atmosphere, and it traps heat. Large masses, like oceans, are slow to respond to the increase in atmospheric temperature, leading to a lag known as committed warming. The researchers examined the contributions of each past and present generation to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and global temperature increases. They divided the past 150 years into 6 assumed generations of 25 years each and applied two cases—no further emissions or constant emissions—to each generation to evaluate warming effects on successive generations. The results describe how time lags in the carbon cycle and the climate system can commit future generations to climate change.

"needs more study" LOL