Even moderate emissions could warm the Earth by as much as 3C by
2050, leaders of a huge climate simulation project have warned.
Scientists who harnessed the power of thousands of volunteers'
home computers forecast a faster rate of warming than has been
predicted before. The models showed that average world
temperatures are on course to rise by between 1.4C and 3C given
mid-range greenhouse gas emissions. According to the findings,
the world is very likely to cross the critical "two degrees
barrier" at some point this century if emissions continue
unabated. Experts believe warming of 2C above pre-industrial
levels could trigger runaway climate change that cannot be
reversed. Almost 10,000 climate simulations were run using
volunteers' home computers. The project, climateprediction.net,
was part of the BBC Climate Change Experiment. Scientists
selected the most realistic projections after comparing them
with regional temperature changes over the past 50 years. None
passing the quality control test showed less