Effect of Carbon Dioxide Variations on Climate

Abstract

Variations in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide cause temperature changes sufficiently large to influence the climate. If the atmospheric carbon dioxide doubles, the surface temperature rises 3.6°C; if it is cut in half, the surface temperature falls 3.8°C. Some of the factors that can be explained by the carbon dioxide theory are: during a single glacial epoch, the climate continually oscillates between a glacial and an interglacial stage with a period of tens of thousands of years with no stable state possible, when the carbon dioxide amount is below a certain critical value; the increased precipitation at the beginning of a glacial period; the time lag between the period of mountain building and the onset of glaciation; periods of glaciation occur at the same time in both hemispheres; the general warming of the climate in the last fifty years. The various factors that enter into the carbon dioxide balance and the influence of the oceans on the atmospheric carbon dioxide amount are discussed in detail. In contrast to other theories of climatic change, the carbon dioxide theory predicts a warming trend that will continue for centuries or as long as fossil fuels are burned in significant quantities.