Climate Sensitivity and the Response of Temperature to CO${}_2$

Abstract

A review of some of the evidence for the IPCC's conclusion that doubling CO${}_2$ levels will warm Earth significantly, in contrast to the claims of a recent article${}^1$. Simply looking at raw temperature and CO${}_2$ data over the past 150 years gives a transient response of roughly 2 K per doubling, in good agreement with IPCC conclusions based on far more extensive analysis. The 0.58 K of Ref. 1 is very unlikely.

4 pages, 1 figure: response to Physics and Society, July 2008 issue