ABSTRACT
Climate sensitivity is a term used to describe the relationship between the rise in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and changes in global mean surface temperature. Although the precise Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) definition of climate sensitivity refers to the global temperature change that would result from a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations above preindustrial levels (namely from 280 to 560 parts per million [ppm]), it is more often applied to a doubling of carbon dioxide equivalent CO2e concentration of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (from around 300 to 600 ppm CO2e). The concept of climate sensitivity can also be more generally applied to yield the change in global mean temperatures resulting from any change in (CO2e) concentrations, for example, from current levels to 500 ppm, 750 ppm, or any other concentration level. The use of CO2e provides a more accurate representation of climate sensitivity as it takes into account the radiative forcing of all greenhouse gases.
