Climate change is outpacing most dire models

The Washington Post reports today on Chris Field’s presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in which he said: “We are basically looking now at a future climate that’s beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model simulations.”  Faster development of coal-fired electrical power in developing countries is part of the reason, as are serious positive feedback loops in carbon emissions (release of methane as a result of melting permafrost and reduced capacity of our oceans to remove atmospheric carbon).  This is seriously bad news.  Dr. Field, a professor at Stanford and IPCC author, is among the most credible and authoritative sources for the current state of climate science.  He has guest-lectured for me and for several co-bloggers in our climate law and policy courses, and he knows what he is talking about.  (Hat tip to UCLA Law student Dustin Maghamfar for the Washington Post story).

AAAS, carbon, carbon dioxide, Chris Field, Climate Change, climate science, coal, greenhouse gas, permafrost, positive feedback, Science, Washington Post