EMISSION LEVELS DETERMINE TEMPERATURE RISES

Digital Art on Metal 30" W X 40" H

WHAT'S ALARMING

“Global average temperature has increased by about 1.8°F from 1901 to 2016, and observational evidence does not support any credible natural explanations for this amount of warming; instead, the evidence consistently points to human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse or heat-trapping gases, as the dominant cause…Earth’s climate will continue to change over this century and beyond. Past mid-century, how much the climate changes will depend primarily on global emisisons of greenhouse gases and on the response of Earth’s climate system to human-induced warming. With significant reductions in emissions, global temperature increase could be limited to 3.6°F(2°C) or less compared to preindustrial temperatures. Without significant reductions, annual average global temperatures could increase by 9°F(5°C) or more by the end of this century compare to preindustrial temperatures.”*

Graph source: Third National Climate Assessment, Climate Change Impacts in the United States, USGCRP 2014, Data from CMIP3, CMIPS and NOAA

*USGCRP, 2018: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II [Reidmiller, D.R., C.W. Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, K.L.M. Lewis, T.K. Maycock, and B.C. Stewart (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA, 1515 pp. doi: 10.7930/NCA4.2018