​Projections beyond 2100 needed to understand full scale of climate change – Prof Horton in NCC feature

Most climate change projections don’t stretch further than 2100, a time when many children born today will still be alive. But the effects of climate change caused by increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, such as sea level rise, heat stress and permafrost melt, will continue long past that. In a Nature Climate Change feature published on April 26, Sonja van Renssen explains why we should be looking further into the future to understand the full scale of human-induced climate change. On the subject of sea level rise, one of the greatest risks posed by climate change to societies and ecosystems, she quotes ASE’s Professor Benjamin Horton on how people tend to overlook the rate of increase in sea level rise, which could be as much as 5 – 7 times higher in the latter part of this century compared to today, and example that highlights the severity and urgency of the problem. A longer perspective would give a better idea of the future living conditions climate change is gradually leading up to, and give stronger motivation for faster action today.

The NCC freature is published here (login to Nature Journals required)

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