5 charts that are a sobering report card on climate change and Earth’s future

From the devastating floods in Western Europe and parts of Asia to a heat wave and forest fires in North America and the world’s coldest region Siberia, and drought in Africa, the last few months have been ones of extreme weather events — and they’re all linked to human-induced climate change.In an alarming assessment report released by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPC) this week, its first since 2013, the agency has stated unequivocally — humans are responsible for the observed warming of the atmosphere, lands and oceans.Here are 5 charts from IPCC’s report that show you the extent at which humans are warming the planet and the dangers that lie ahead unless all countries enhance their climate mitigation efforts.1. Global temperatures will warm up by 1.5°C in next 2 decadesIn its most stark message yet on the threat of climate change, the IPCC has warned that global temperatures will reach or exceed 1.5°C of warming over the next 20 years under all scenarios. This means countries have failed to adopt significant warming mitigation measures to limit drastic climate change. The 2015 Paris Climate Accord had committed to limit global rise in temperature to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level (1850-1900) for this century, but we’re well on our way to overshooting that target.In fact, the average rise in global temperature rise is already 1.1°C above the pre-industrial level. Since 1970, in particular, the situation has worsened, with global surface temperatures rising faster than in any other 50-year period over the past 2,000 years. In fact, we may breach the 1.5°C threshold even before 2040, unless we hit the brakes, the report warns.The fallout: More heat waves, longer warm and shorter cold seasons, faster sea-level rise, floods and wildfires globally...So who’s to blame? While natural changes to the Earth’s climate do have a very small role in this rise in temperature increase, most of it is due to greenhouse gases associated with human activities. In other words, pretty much all global warming is due to humans. medium nocaption85243891 medium nocaption852423312. Overall, extreme weather will be more frequent, severeHeatwaves, drought, wildfire and heavy rain have become more frequent and intense across most land regions since 1950, the IPCC confirmed in its latest report. Australia, Europe, Northern Russia’s Siberian region, parts of the Americas and the African tropical forests — practically no region has been spared. In Asia too, heat waves have increased, while cold extremes have decreased. This trend will continue, the report says, especially in south Asia, including India, over the coming decades as the global temperature rises.In a nutshell, climate change is now affecting every continent, region and ocean on Earth, and every facet of the weather. Some parts of the world are, however, heating up a lot faster than others — the Arctic region is already heating up at a rate that is more than twice as fast as the current global average of 1.1°C and could be ice-free by mid- to late century. medium nocaption852421973. Earth will be a lot wetter tooHuman activities have also affected global precipitation (rain and snow). Since 1950, the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events have increased over most land areas. This is because the warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture — about 7% more for each additional degree of temperature — which results in more wet seasons and more rainfall.The IPCC 's report says more changes in monsoon precipitation are expected, with both annual and summer monsoon precipitation projected to increase. For India, this possible increase in annual precipitation could be accompanied by more severe rainfall events over the southern parts of the country in the next few decades. "Experiments with constant forcing indicate that at 1.5°C and 2°C global warming levels, mean precipitation and monsoon extremes are projected to intensify in summer over India and South Asia," the report said. medium nocaption852371164. Expect more floods unless...Warming is already accelerating sea level rise globally, according to IPCC's report. Sea levels around Asia have particularly risen faster than the global average, with coastal area loss and shoreline retreat. The surface of the Indian Ocean has especially warmed faster than the global average. This could lead to flooding along India’s vast coastline of 7,517km with cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, Surat and Visakhapatnam.But we can limit our use of fossil fuels and cut global emissions, we can keep rising sea levels under some check. medium nocaption85243470 5. Cleaner air is the keyThat's not all. Atmospheric CO2, the primary driver of global heating, is now at a two million-year peak. About 85% of those CO2 emissions are from burning fossil fuels. The remaining 15% are generated from land use change, such as deforestation and degradation.Concentrations of other greenhouse gases are not doing any better. Both methane and nitrous oxide, the second and third biggest contributors to global warming after CO2, have also increased more quickly. Methane emissions from human activities largely come from livestock and the fossil fuel industry. Nitrous oxide emissions largely come from the use of nitrogen fertiliser on crops. In fact, humans have already dumped enough greenhouse gas into the atmosphere to heat up the planet by 1.5°C — one of the goals set by the Paris Agreement — but fine-particle pollution from fossil fuels is masking it by providing a cooling effect. Sharp CO2 cuts are needed each decade to mitigate the damage. medium85244407No surprises then that the IPCC has called its report "code red for humanity." But it does add that there is still some chance to pull back from the precipice. If countries pledge to “net zero” human-caused carbon dioxide emissions sometime around mid-century, “it is still possible to forestall many of the most dire impacts,” says IPCC vice chair Ko Barrett.Untitled Carousel 84261895