Chaisson, Eric2015-05-072008Chaisson, Eric J. 2008. “Long-Term Global Heating from Energy Usage.” Eos Trans. AGU 89 (28): 253. doi:10.1029/2008eo280001.0096-3941http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:15217701Even if civilization on Earth stops polluting the biosphere with greenhouse gases, humanity could eventually be awash in too much heat, namely, the dissipated heat by-product generated by any nonrenewable energy source. Apart from the Sun's natural aging—which causes an approximately 1% luminosity rise for each \(10^{8}\) years and thus about 1°C increase in Earths surface temperature—well within 1000 years our technological society could find itself up against a fundamental limit to growth: an unavoidable global heating of roughly 3°C dictated solely by the second law of thermodynamics, a biogeophysical effect often ignored when estimating future planetary warming scenarios.en-USBiogeophysicsBiosphere/atmosphere interactionsThermodynamicsJournal Article2015-03-23Eric Chaisson2015-05-0710.1029/2008EO280001