The research, conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), predicts a 90% probability that worldwide surface temperatures will rise more than 9 degrees (F) by 2100, compared to a previous 2003 MIT study that forecast a rise of just over 4 degrees.

As if all of that weren’t bad enough (oh boy is it!), a recent study from MIT indicates that the growth of industrial activity is likely to increase, dramatically, the rate at which humankind is changing the climate. The study, from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, is unique in that it attempts to account for the effects of economic activity coupled with the effects of atmospheric, oceanic and biological systems. The report is published in the Journal of Climate.

The model estimates that the median rate of surface warming by 2100 is 5.2 degrees, more than double the median rate of 2.4 degrees estimated six years ago. Nonetheless, strong policies to cut greenhouse gases are as effective in curbing global warming as in past models.