2012 - 2014 Center for Climate System Modeling Global climate
change represents one of the grand challenges facing humanity.
Although there are major efforts underway to develop and
implement international agreements to limit further growth of
the underlying drivers, i.e., primarily the emission of
greenhouse gases, substantial changes in Earth’s climate are
ahead. In fact, through the forcing by current greenhouse gases
concentrations alone, humankind is already committed to a
warming of about 1.2°C since pre-industrial times (IPCC, 2007).
About 0.8°C of that warming has occurred, while approximately
another 0.4°C are in the store due to the inertia of the Earth’s
climate system (IPCC, 2007). Hence, even if greenhouse gases
wouldn't rise any further, Earth will move into another climate
state, and due to the slowness of the natural process removing
these greenhouse gases from the air, it will remain in this
state for the next few centuries (Solomon et al., 2009; Gillett
et al., 2011). Consequently, the devel