See How Climate Is Expected to Change

Below is a snapshot from a moving graphic that shows how the temperatures in various spots on the earth changed from 1880 to the present, and how they are expected to change between now and 2100. To see it move, and also to see a moving graphic of how global warming is expected to affect the extent of sea ice, click on the image.


The projections underlying the two graphics come from a computer model run by Britain's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, which is their equivalent of our National Weather Service.

The Hadley Centre's projections are among the most dire that scientists have come up with, as far as the degree of global warming that we can expect is concerned. Below is a graph showing Hadley's predicted rises in global surface air temperatures, measured at 1.5 meters above the ground, a typical height for standard meteorological measurements, in degrees Celsius. Separately shown are the changes expected in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.


By 2100, according to the model used for this particular graph, global surface temperature is expected to be at least 2.7 degrees Celsius hotter than in 2000, which is a gain of over 4.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Other Hadley models apparently (see Cloud Cover and Climate Change) predict a temperature rise of up to 4.5 degrees Celsius (8.1 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.