FLICKR, RITA WILLAERT
At least 74 percent of the global warming that has been observed in the past half century is due to human activity, according to a paper published in Nature Geoscience last Sunday (December 4). The new study, carried out by Swiss climate modelers, employed a novel method based on measures of heat energy entering and leaving Earth, as opposed to the commonly used method known as “optimal fingerprinting,” which uses measures of surface air temperature as well as the climate’s response to greenhouse gases, solar radiation, and aerosols from volcanoes and other sources. The new findings confirm previous climate model predictions that increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide take most of the blame for global warming, lending weight to the idea that climate change is largely due to human activity, Nature reported.
In other climate change news, legendary science filmmaker Sir David Attenborough issued a warning about the potential catastrophic effects of global warming in his latest documentary series about the Earth’s poles, “Frozen Planet.” “It’s not beyond possibility that warming will actually cause sea level rises which could threaten central London,” Attenborough told journalist David Shukman in a video interview for BBC.