Ice clue on global heat

MODELLERS predicting climate change look back in time to find similar global warming events – but they may be looking at the wrong parts of the Earth’s history.

A global team looked back 304 million years to a time when the Earth had large stocks of ice, as it does today.

The research suggests an “icehouse” climate may be more sensitive to changes in carbon dioxide than a “greenhouse” climate, and if we continue to rely on greenhouse comparisons we may be underestimating the rate and effect of global warming.