Even if we are able to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, Earth could likely see drastic and rapid climate change this century, new research by NASA’s Jim Hansen suggests. Paleoclimate data paints a different picture than models about the sensitivity of the climate system. Detailed analysis of the Earth’s paleoclimate history of recent interglacial periods reveals we are less than a degree Celsius away from equaling a time when sea level was several meters higher than it is today.
