The final installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth assessment report (AR5), set to be released this weekend, is the most comprehensive evaluation of climate change to date. Its findings are both alarming and clear: Climate change is already affecting communities and ecosystems across the planet, and without urgent action, it’s poised to worsen.
Indeed, the IPCC report paints a vivid picture of the current state of climate change, as well as where we’re headed if emissions don’t drop significantly. Here’s a look at three infographics that underscore the report’s findings:
The History of Carbon Emissions
Global carbon dioxide emissions from human activity are now higher than at any point in history. Check out their changing history—in 2011, CO2 emissions were 150 times higher than they were in 1850.
The Global Carbon Budget
Installments of the most recent IPCC report, which were released over the past year, calculated the world’s “carbon budget.” This is the amount of carbon the world can release and still have a likely chance of limiting global average temperature rise to 2 degrees C, thus preventing some of the most disastrous impacts of climate change. We’ve already used up 52 percent on the budget and, if emissions continue unabated, we’ll burn through the rest in a mere 30 years.
More on: www.wri.org/blog/2014/10/3-infographics-explain-our-climate-past-and-future
