Table 1 Sensitivity of temperature to carbon dioxide (CO2)

From: Continuous sterane and phytane δ13C record reveals a substantial pCO2 decline since the mid-Miocene

 

Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS)

Earth System Sensitivity (ESS)

Region

K / Wm-2

r2

°C / 2×CO2

K / Wm-2

r2

°C / 2×CO2

NH High Latitude

3.1

0.9

11.6

5.1

0.8

18.8

NH Mid Latitude

2.3

0.9

8.6

4.3

0.8

16.0

SH Mid Latitude

2.2

0.8

8.3

4.4

0.6

16.1

Tropicsa

1.3

0.8

5.0

3.0

0.5

11.1

Global

1.9

0.8

7.2

3.8

0.6

13.9

  1. aUK´37 ratio at these sites is reaching saturation (i.e., 1.00) from 15 to 8 Ma and SSTs derived from these reconstructed SSTs were omitted in our calculation.
  2. Estimated Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS, fast feedbacks) and Earth System Sensitivity (ESS, slow feedbacks) over 15.0–0.3 Ma. ECS and ESS are expressed in temperature per radiative forcing (K/Wm-2), the units typically used64 for S[CO2,X,Y], and temperature change per doubling in CO2 (°C/2×CO2) based on their linear fit with errors in x and y. Calculations are shown by latitudinal region, including northern hemisphere (NH) and southern hemisphere (SH). Global refers to the weight by percent-area for the Earth: tropics (30°N-30°S, 50.0%), mid-latitudes (30–60°, 36.6%), and high latitudes (60–90°, 13.4%).
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