Future Climate Trends for Africa: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability

Through the ages societies have faced major crises. Historian Mahesh Rangarajan reminds us that, historically speaking, environmental and economic crises have resulted not only in societal decline or collapse, but in reform as well as social and political reorganization. Adopting broader historical perspectives of long-term change, he argues, can be one way to avoid the traps of paralyzing despair or naïve optimism in times of socio-ecological crisis.

Climate models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimate global temperature and precipitation patterns will change throughout the 21st century given current rising greenhouse gas concentrations. This visualization is based on a scenario in which carbon dioxide concentrations reach 670 parts per million by 2100, up from around 400 ppm today.

To assist in the understanding of the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, key data sets and information have been used to generate this infographic.