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The phrase in question comes from the Japanese global warming article.

その一方で太陽放射等の自然要因による変化の寄与量は人為的な要因の数%程度でしかなく、自然要因だけでは現在の気温の上昇は説明できないことが指摘されている

I think I understand the gist of 数%程度でしかなく. My reading is, '[accounts for]
just a few percent [of the change]'. However, I've never encountered 数 used as
a prefix like this before to represent a small change. Can someone clarify the
meaning of this phrase? Thanks.
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2017-10-25T09:38:29.633
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question
words phrases prefixes
What does 数% mean in 数%程度でしかなく?
Your interpretation is correct, used as a prefix 数{すう}パーセント 数{すう}ケルビン, etc the
pronunciation is すう and not かず and it means "a few", so in my examples "a few
percent" or "a few Kelvin".

The 程度{ていど} afterwards means "order of", so "on the order of a few percent"

The full translation is thus:

> Meanwhile, the contribution of the main natural causes such as Solar
> radiation, is only on the order of a few percent of the artificial main
> causes. Thus the increase in temperature that we are seeing now can not be
> explained by natural causes alone.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-25T10:10:30.303
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answer