Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
thickness of corals laid down each year depends on the
temperatures of the shallow waters in the coral reef.
Figure
.
is from a report published in
titled
“
The
report analyzed what would happen in the United States
if the temperature went up, and the
Climate Change Impacts on the United States.
”
figure is used here to
show what we know about the correlation of temperature,
greenhouse gas concentration, and economic activity. I was
a member of the review panel for this report, and our job
was to ensure that the report was based on good science
and that uncertainties in its conclusions were clearly iden-
ti
first direct involvement in
climate-change impact studies. One of the strengths of the
report comes from its use of two climate scenarios, one
toward the lower end of today
ed. This review marked my
s estimates of temperature
rise and one toward the upper end. It makes interesting
reading even today if one wants to know what will happen
in the United States as the temperature rises.
Figure
'
.
(c)
shows the temperature data averaging all
proxies from
years ago up to the beginning of the
instrumental record and from the instrument record itself
for the past
(b)
shows CO
concentration. These data are from ice cores and are
solid.
Figure
or so years.
Figure
.
(a)
shows carbon emissions into the
atmosphere. Here, the curve is an estimate based on
economic activity (see Ref. [
.
]). It is not very precise,
but it doesn
it have to be. The correlation between the
three panels is remarkable.
Those who deny the reality of global warming argue
that the apparent
'
flatness of the temperature record
before about
is wrong and underestimated the
