Climate sensitivity - how much will the planet warm when carbon dioxide levels double? One global warming skeptic argument we see every so often is that the climate is not as sensitive as climate scientists think, so their predictions overestimate future global warming.

This theory is based on a paper written by Stephen Schwartz last year which found that a doubling of atmospheric CO2 would cause a ~1°C warming.

http://www.ecd.bnl.gov/steve/pubs/HeatCa...

RealClimate said this about the paper:

%26quot;Even if his result is correct (which it isn’t), it by no means %26#039;kills AGW theory.%26#039; It simply changes the numbers. In fact, Schwartz’s analysis implicitly assumes that the planet *is* warming, and that the primary cause is man-made greenhouse gases.%26quot;

I came upon this website summarizing the various studies which have analyzed climate sensitivity.

http://members.aol.com/bpl1960/ClimateSe...

If you scroll to the bottom, you see that over time, the studies are converging around a sensitivity of ~3°C.

What do you think the correct value is?

Additional Details

7 months ago

By the way, Schwartz%26#039;s study is not included on the linked website, which only goes through 2006 (Schwartz%26#039;s study was in 2007).

check it out...working group 1: the physical science basis

I forsee a Malthusian Catastrophe, within 10-30 years.

The Earth will survive. Homeostasis will be restored. And, there will be 7+ x 10^8 human beings... probably scattered about, on landlocked high ground. Academic brat...
Combat Field Medic
BA, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA
Double-major: Sociology %26amp; Religion
also Geology, Oceanography, Physics, more Physics...
Master of Arts in Religion, (Academic, not Divinity), Iliff School of Theology, Denver, CO, USA
Constant learner and reader, even if I can%26#039;t understand maths any more.

Answer hidden due to its low rating

carbon dioxide will double and it will create smog but scientist have proven that they have no idea what is making the ozone thin. it is thinning and that is laying more sun on the earth heating it. but most don%26#039;t now that the ozone layer just healed itself and no one knows why. basically stop worrying about it, the earth changes and the carbon dioxide is not causing it the only thing it is doing is making the air next to the earth covered with smog.