Introduction to Modern Climate Change

We have now reached the final chapter on our trip through the problem of modern climate change. In the previous 13 chapters, we explored the fundamental physics that leads us to confidently conclude that humans are now changing the climate and that continuing to add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere could bring serious changes to our climate over the next century and beyond. We are not certain how bad this climate change will be, but the upper end of the range (global and annual average warming several degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures) includes warming large enough for many to consider its impacts catastrophic. Even the lower end of the range, about 1.5°C–2°C above pre-industrial temperatures, will be challenging for the world’s poorest as well as our most vulnerable ecosystems. We have also explored a number of possible responses to this risk, including mitigation, adaptation, solar radiation management, and carbon dioxide removal. We have even touched briefly on the political debate over climate change. In this chapter, I will discuss the elements of an effective response to climate change.