THE Earth could be even more sensitive to global warming than we imagined. If carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere double, as they are widely expected to do, the planet’s temperature could rise by a huge 11.5 °C, according to early results from a project that uses home PCs to test climate models.
The result is surprising because it is far outside the 1.4 to 4.5 °C range predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But the IPCC’s estimate is based on just a handful of different computer models of the Earth’s climate (see New Scientist, 24 July…
