Climate Change 2001:
Synthesis Report
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Figure 5-2: After CO2 emissions are reduced and atmospheric concentrations stabilize, surface air temperature continues to rise by a few tenths of a degree per century for a century or more. Thermal expansion of the ocean continues long after CO2 emissions have been reduced, and melting of ice sheets continues to contribute to sea-level rise for many centuries. This figure is a generic illustration for stabilization at any level between 450 and 1,000 ppm, and therefore has no units on the response axis. Responses to stabilization trajectories in this range show broadly similar time courses, but the impacts become progressively larger at higher concentrations of CO2 .

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