Understanding Earth's Deep Past: Lessons for Our Climate Future

The Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, part of the National Academies' Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS), has released a report that sets out a research agenda for an improved understanding of Earth system processes during the transition to a warmer world. High-priority research initiatives include gaining a better understanding of the sensitivity of climate to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, the amount of sea-level rise as the ice sheets melt, and the resilience of ecosystems to climate change.

According to the committee that produced the report, without a reduction in emissions, by the end of this century atmospheric carbon dioxide could reach levels that Earth has not experienced for more than 30 million years. The report concludes that critical insights into how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and ecosystems would function in this high carbon dioxide environment are contained in the records of Earth's geological past. The report suggests that research could also yield information on the tipping points for climate change--the threshold of greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere at which abrupt climate change will occur.

DELS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.