More Carbon, Less Science

摘要

By some measures atmospheric carbon dioxide levels remain small, even after recently hitting 400 parts per million. A couple hundred years ago, there were 285 pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for every 1,000,000 pounds of other gases, now increased by 115 pounds, a tiny one hundredth of one percent. And over the last 130 years, the 61℉ average temperature of the Earth has increased by a rather modest 1.4°. In Eaarth, Bill McKibbon suggests that increased carbon dioxide and temperatures will create a world qualitatively different from that in which humans and our institutions evolved. How can we reconcile his important contribution with the small changes seen thus far and predicted in the near future?