How Global Warming Links to Carbon Emissions and the Role of the Oceans

How is global warming linked to carbon emissions? For the first time, scientists have uncovered how global warming is related to the amount of carbon emitted.

Scientists have long known that rising temperatures are related to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yet the exact comparison has long eluded them. That's why researchers created an equation that examines the complex relationship between carbon dioxide levels and the ocean system. Burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, which leads to global warming and the greenhouse effect. This, in turn, is offset partially by the oceans absorbing both heat and carbon.

"Our analysis highlights the nearly irreversible nature of carbon emissions for global warming," said Phil Goodwin, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Once carbon has been emitted into the atmosphere the warming effect will last many centuries, even after much of the carbon has been absorbed by the ocean. We cannot wait until after significant anthropogenic warming has occurred to reduce carbon emissions and hope the climate goes back to normal by itself, it won't."

In fact, the scientists found that surface warming is related to the total amount of carbon emitted from fossil fuels, with little change over time as ocean carbon and changes in heat uptake almost cancel each other out. This, in particular, is important to take note of as carbon continues to be produced.

"Given the complexity of the climate system, it was a surprise to find out how simple the relationship is between global warming and how much carbon we emit," said Ric Williams, one of the researchers. "The ocean turns out to be crucial by taking up both heat and carbon, which lead to nearly compensating effects on how surface warming depends on carbon emissions. These findings potentially address the most important finding from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report last year, which is how global warming increases with how much carbon we emit."

The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

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