The term.docVIP

The term equilibrium climate sensitivity refers to the total amount of warming that will occur at the Earths surface once it reaches a new balanced energy state, including from the increased greenhouse effect from a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and including these feedback effects.? What are the biggest feedbacks? Water vapor is probably the largest individual feedback.?A 2009 study?published in the prestigious journal Science by Andrew Dessler and Steven Sherwood found that, as climate scientists expected, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is increasing by enough to double the warming from the increased greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide. As discussed above, melting ice is another significant warming feedback. Releases of stored?carbon from beneath permafrost?and?methane from the deep ocean?would also amplify global warming.? Unfortunately we dont know of many large negative feedbacks that would dampen global warming. Global plant growth has increased so far, and plants absorb carbon dioxide. But that trend?probably wont last?as extreme weather events like heat waves and droughts that damage plant life become more common. Clouds are really the only plausible feedback that could significantly dampen future global warming. Theyre tricky because?clouds cause both?warming by increasing the greenhouse effect, and cooling by reflecting sunlight away from the Earths surface. High clouds tend to have an overall warming effect, while low clouds tend to have an overall cooling effect.? So what types of clouds will become more abundant in a warming world, and what will the net effect on temperatures be? We dont yet know the answer to that question. Thus climate contrarians often argue that clouds will save us from dangerous?climate change. However,?the evidence so far?from researchers like Andrew Dessler indicates that clouds dont play a large role in either amplifying or dampening global warming, at least in the short-term. W