Expect 1,000-year climate impacts, experts say

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 3:16 p.m. PT, Mon., Jan. 26, 2009

WASHINGTON – Even if the world can cap carbon dioxide emissions tied to global warming, expect to see droughts and sea level rise that span centuries, not just decades, according to a new study sponsored by the U.S. government.

“People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years; that’s not true,” lead author Susan Solomon told reporters.

Instead, the team concluded, warming tied to higher CO2 “is largely irreversible for 1,000 years after emissions stop.”

“Climate change is slow, but it is unstoppable” said Solomon, a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

All the more reason to act quickly, so the long-term situation doesn’t get even worse, Solomon said.