Washington: A new research has confirmed how global warming links to carbon emissions.
Researchers from the University of Liverpool have derived the first theoretical equation to demonstrate that global warming is a direct result of the build-up of carbon emissions since the late 1800s when man-made carbon emissions began.
The theoretical equation revealed the complex relationship between carbon dioxide levels and the ocean system.
Burning fossil fuels increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels leading to global warming and the greenhouse effect, which is partly offset by the oceans taking in both heat and carbon.
The results show every million-million tonnes of carbon emitted will generate one degree Celsius of global warming.
They also show that the build-up of carbon emitted over the last 200 years will then last for many centuries to millennia even if carbon emissions are subsequently phased out.
The results also reveal that surface warming is related to the total amount of carbon emitted from fossil fuels, with little change over time as ocean carbon and changes in heat uptake almost cancel each other out.
Researcher Ric Williams said that these findings potentially address the most important finding from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report last year, which is how the global warming increases with how much carbon people emit.
Williams added that in terms of wider policy implications, their theory reiterates a simple message that the more cumulative carbon emissions are allowed to increase, the more global surface warming will also increase.
Williams continued that this policy implication reinforces the need to develop carbon capture techniques to limit the warming for the next generations.
The research is published in Nature Geoscience.
