How bad can it be? ...and when?

Notice the temperature line for the current year on the lower right corner of the chart.   Then 7 future projections are plotted.

The graphic IPCC Chart uses data from special report emissions scenario for the IPCC .   Below, in blue text, are summarized projections for each degree change taken from the book "Six Degrees, Our Future on a Hotter Planet" - Mark Lynas

  Four degrees of warming Three degrees Two degrees of warming One degree rise is inevitable Specifics of the Scenarios Projected temperature models Degree changes for the last 1000 years Book from Amazon.com 5 Degrees of warming
The composite chart shows past temperature changes and projected changes to the year 2100. The temperature scale counts upward from the year 2000 - which represents 0 degrees of change. The red line is the average temperature before the year 2000. Where the red line splits, these are the future projections, and each model scenario is a different color. The vertical color lines on the right represent the temperature range for each of these models. Note that all scientists agree that we will see increases of at least 1 degree Centigrade. The blue text on the left side describes some events for each temperature level.


Just what is the IPCC? All countries are members of the IPCC. The goal is to assess science of climate change, the Union of Concerned Scientist describes their reports.
The emission scenarios mentioned above are nicely discussed at http://www.manicore.com/anglais/documentation_a/greenhouse/emission_scenario.html
Another display of the same data - future predictions vs degrees of warming.
Current early warnings signs available at http://www.climatehotmap.org/


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Page assembled Jan 2008 by Richard Pauli
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