No computer simulations have ever had broader consequences for human life than the current generation of climate models. The models tell us that rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases can trigger abrupt shifts in the planet's climate; to avert those changes or mitigate their effects, the entire human population is urged to make fundamental economic and technological adjustments. In particular, we may have to forgo exploiting most of the world's remaining reserves of fossil fuels. It's not every day that the output of a computer program leads to a call for seven billion people to change their behavior.
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