No end to rising temperatures

The world’s top climate scientists warn that the planet will warm by 1.5° Celsius within 20 years without “immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions” in greenhouse gas pollution


Change in global surface temperature
(°C relative to 1951-1980 average)
Yearly	Five-year average

1951-1980 average

1970-2020: Surface temperature rises faster than in any 50-year period over past 2,000 years

2020: Planet warms by estimated 1.2°C

2040: Best-case scenario – could rise by 1.6°C by 2060


1.5
1.4 
1.3
1.2
1.0 
0.8 
0.6 
0.4 
0.2 
0.0
-0.2 
-0.4 
-0.6
1880 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20 30 40


Sources: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, NASA 
Picture: Getty Images 
© GRAPHIC NEWS