Climate Sensitivity: A Whole-Earth Dynamic Approach


Abstract

This brief working paper moves away from the world of computer modelling to examine the Vostok ice-core data for information that could throw new light on the issue of climate sensitivity. It is important to note that in this paper the CO2 concentration data is seen not as causal of the temperature variation, but as an indicating marker of the equilibrium temperature reached by the whole earth system. The beauty of this approach is that the sensitivity reading includes by definition the equilibrium effects of all the feedbacks and complex dynamic responses currently approximated in the computer models.

If the sensitivity figures indicated in this study of the Vostok data can be trusted, we face an urgent and radical re-evaluation of the current strategic response to global warming.