Defusing the global warming time bomb

被引:60
作者
Hansen, J [1 ]
机构
[1] NASA, Goddard Inst Space Studies, Greenbelt, MD USA
[2] Columbia Univ, Earth Inst, New York, NY USA
关键词
D O I
10.1038/scientificamerican0304-68
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
At present, the most accurate knowledge about climate sensitivity is based on data from the earth's history, and this evidence reveals that small forces, maintained long enough, can cause large climate change. Human-made forces, especially greenhouse gases, soot and other small particles, now exceed natural forces, and the world has begun to warm at a rate predicted by climate models. The stability of the great ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica and the need to preserve global coastlines set a low limit on the global warming that will constitute "dangerous anthropogenic interference" with climate. Halting global warming requires urgent, unprecedented international cooperation, but the needed actions are feasible and have additional benefits for human health, agriculture and the environment.
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页码:68 / 77
页数:10
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