Even if we were to stop climate forcing today, the inertia in the oceans would lead to a rise in sea level and global mean temperatures for decades to come.

• Wigley, T. M. L. "The Climate Change Commitment." Science 307(5716): 1766-1769. 18 March 2005 at www.sciencemag.org

• Meehl, Gerald A. et al. "How Much More Global Warming and Sea Level Rise?" Science 307(5716): 1769-1772. 18 March 2005 at www.sciencemag.org

According to the Wigley study, even if we froze atmospheric composition at today's levels, the inertia in the ocean system alone could raise global mean temperatures by 2 degrees to 6 degrees Celsius by the year 2400 and sea levels by 25   centimeters per century until at least the year 2400. This is confirmed by independent work by Meehl et al., who conclude that if greenhouse gas levels were stabilized at 2000 levels, atmospheric temperatures would still increase by 1.1-3.5 degrees Celsius and sea levels would rise by an additional 13-30 centimeters by the end of this century.

Implications: Recent scientific studies confirm that human-induced climate change is leading to rising ocean and atmospheric temperatures. These studies confirm expectations that there will be a delay in climate impacts as a result of the ocean's thermal inertia. Therefore, even if our society were to halt greenhouse gas emissions today, we have already committed to substantial warming and sea-level rise in future years. Furthermore, the longer our society waits to curtail emissions, the more significant the climate impacts we will commit to in the future. Given that emissions are not currently being capped, we are not on a track to limit either sea-level rise or temperatures even at the levels these models indicate.