Pliocene Role in Assessing Future Climate Impacts

Future warming projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has the potential to affect every person on Earth. Extreme weather events, rising sea level, and migrating ecosystems and resources may result in socioeconomic stresses. Although we can plan and prepare for what is expected, the most dangerous aspect of our changing climate is the uncertainty in climate sensitivity. To reduce the uncertainties of climate change, paleoclimatologists are focusing on a possible yet imperfect analog to a future warmer climate.