• Question: How Hot Will the Greenhouse World Be?

    Asked by beth5000 to Claire, Matt, Sam on 27 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      We don’t know exactly. It could be only 2 degrees warmer, or it might be 4 by 2100. The problem is that this could be enough to melt the ice caps and cause flooding, or cause drought. It might also cause more heavy rain. There are also “feedback” effects, where warming can change the climate in ways that cause more warming, like less reflection of light by ice. These effects are hard to predict.

    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      Sam’s right – and 2 to 4 degrees isn’t even a lot, that’s the scary part! I doubt you notice a difference of 2 degrees in the weather, but when it’s the entire global average that rises by 2 degrees then things can go crazy. The world exists in quite a precarious and unstable balance – tip the scale just enough one way and it could fall.

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