Future CO2 emissions and climate change from existing energy infrastructure by Steven J. Davis, Ken Caldeira & H. Damon Matthews, Science (10 September 2010)

Science (10 September 2010), Vol. 329, No. 5997, pp. 1330-1333; DOI: 10.1126/science.1188566

Future CO₂ Emissions and Climate Change from Existing Energy Infrastructure

Steven J. Davis^*, Ken Caldeira (Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A.) and H. Damon Matthews (Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, H 1255-26 (Hall Building), Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada)

Abstract

Slowing climate change requires overcoming inertia in political, technological, and geophysical systems. Of these, only geophysical warming commitment has been quantified. We estimated the commitment to future emissions and warming represented by existing carbon dioxide–emitting devices. We calculated cumulative future emissions of 496 (282–701 in lower- and upper-bounding scenarios) gigatonnes of CO₂ from combustion of fossil fuels by existing infrastructure between 2010 and 2060, forcing mean warming of 1.3 °C (1.1–1.4 °C) above the pre-industrial era and atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ less than 430 parts per million. Because these conditions would likely avoid many key impacts of climate change, we conclude that sources of the most threatening emissions have yet to be built. However, CO₂-emitting infrastructure will expand unless extraordinary efforts are undertaken to develop alternatives.

^*Correspondence e-mail: sjdavis@carnegie.stanford.edu

Link:  http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/329/5997/1330