Average temperatures could soar by ‘at least 14C’ as climate experts warn of return to ancient heatwave
GLOBAL warming threatens to trigger extreme hot temperatures not seen on Earth for 50million years.
The mercury could soar 14C above average as early as 2100 as our planet is battered by blistering year-long heat, a study found.
For the first time, researchers were able to replicate a climate model of the extreme warming during The Early Eocene Period, a time long before humans walked the Earth.
At this time in our planet's distant past, there were no poles, or ice, and the land was scorched to a crisp.
Many believe the scorching period is a premonition for how the Earth may turn out if climate change isn't stopped.
Scientists found the rate of warming dramatically increased because carbon dioxide levels skyrocketed during the Early Eocene.
This period was the hottest the Earth has been in the past 66million years.
Jiang Zhu, a researcher at the University of Michigan, warned that the Earth could easily end up with that climate of 14 degrees warmer once again.
Dr Zhu said: "It is a scary finding because it indicates that the temperature response to an increase in carbon dioxide in the future might be larger than the response to the same increase in CO2 now.
"This is not good news for us."
Climate change explained
Here are the basic facts...
- Scientists have lots of evidence to show that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to human activity
- Climate change will result in problems like global warming, greater risk of flooding, droughts and regular heatwaves
- Each of the last three decades have been hotter than the previous one and 17 of the 18 warmest years on record have happened during the 21st century
- The Earth only needs to increase by a few degrees for it to spell disaster
- The oceans are already warming, polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and we’re seeing more extreme weather events
- In 2015, almost all of the world's nations signed a deal called the Paris Agreement which set out ways in which they could tackle climate change and try to keep temperatures below 2C
The rate of climate sensitivity currently ongoing has not been seen since the Early Eocene Period 50million years ago.
Scientists predict there will be less cloud coverage in the future, which can have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.
If nothing is done to limit carbon emissions, the researchers predicted the Earth could reach the same CO2 levels as the Early Eocene by the year 2100.
The report was published in the journal Science Advances.
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