Controversies in Science/Are humans causing global warming/A critique of Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feed backs in a coupled climate model

(Review Paper) Cited in Controversies in Science/Are humans causing global warming/A critique of Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feed backs in a coupled climate model

Points Made

Current models fail to acknowledge the fact that CO2 concentration is in fact a part of a cyclical model, in which it moves through land and the atmosphere. With a new model in place, the effects on the climate are considered even more damaging than previously thought.

The model used in the research, is based on the assumption that CO2 emissions remain at a constant level. If CO2 emission were to increase the overall long term effect would be compounded.

In order to accurately predict climate change in the next 100 yrs, we would have to go back and analyze all the data using the model currently used in this research.

Methods

For the research conducted, there were two models used to determine accurate effects of C02 absorption on land and in oceans. Using the Ocean Carbon-Cycle Model, 4 distinct ocean fields were utilized to measure the effect of C02 emissions on organisms in the ocean. In the Terrestrial Carbon-Cycle Model, various regions of the earth were used to measure the effect of C02 concentration in vegetation, plantation, and in soil over pre-defined periods of time.

Results

The effects of the CO2 concentration in the ocean as well as terrestrial land are eventually fed back into the atmosphere, thus reinforcing the fact that the overall model they have used does prove that C02 moves in a cyclic fashion. In order to accurately predict the course of climate change over the next 100 years, sufficient historical data must be utilized within the Ocean and Terrestrial Carbon-Cycle Model.