Infographics based on the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report part 1 illustrate the physical science basis of climate change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the report of the Working Group I contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report in September 2013. It focuses on the physical science basis of climate change. The Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Ministry of the Environment have produced infographics on the key messages of the report. The infographics, or information graphics, can be freely used by the public and the media.
Note: When using the infographics, please cite the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, and Climateguide.fi as references.
The complete set of the infographics can be downloaded as a PDF file, and the individual images are also available in PNG format. The images have been divided according to their themes under the headings in the table of contents. To enlarge a single image in your browser: right-click the image and select “Open image in New Tab”.
The complete set of the infographics in one file
Observed changes
Figure 1. Observed changes in the climate system.
Observed changes in the atmosphere
Figure 2. Increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases.
Figure 3. Concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. Concentrations are expressed in parts per million (ppm) for carbon dioxide and parts per billion (ppb) for the other two gases.
Figure 4. Concentrations of carbon dioxide in Pallas (Finland), the South Pole, and Hawaii, expressed in parts per million (ppm).
Figure 5. Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the northern hemisphere, expressed in parts per million (ppm).
Radiative forcing
Figure 6. The effects of warming and cooling factors.
Observed global warming
Figure 7. Global average temperature has increased. Anomalies are relative to the mean temperature of 1961-1990.
Observed changes in the ocean
Figure 8. Changes in the ocean.
Figure 9. Warming of oceans.
Figure 10. Rise in sea level.
Observed changes in the cryosphere
Figure 11. Changes in the cryosphere i.e. in sea ice cover and snow cover.
Figure 12. Total Arctic summer ice has decreased in extent.
Figure 13. Spring snow cover has decreased in extent in the northern hemisphere.
Figure 14. Arctic sea ice has decreased in extent.
Figure 15. Changes in the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets. Rate of ice loss is expressed in gigatonnes (a billion tonnes) per year (Gt/yr).
Greenhouse gas scenarios
Figure 16. New greenhouse gas scenarios - Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP). Total amount of carbondioxide emissions is expressed in gigatonnes (a billion tonnes) carbon per year (PgC/v).
Future temperature changes
Figure 17. Projected changes in temperature. The left side portrays the change if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced substantially as in pathway 1 (RCP 2.6). The right side portrays the change if the emissions continue to grow at the current rate as in pathway 2 (RCP 8.5). These estimates include a calculated best estimate (in the middle) and a confidence interval (the highest and lowest numeric values).
Future sea level
Figure 18. Projected changes in sea level. The left side portrays the change if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced substantially as in pathway 1 (RCP 2.6). The right side portrays the change if the emissions continue to grow at the current rate as in pathway 2 (RCP 8.5). These estimates include a calculated best estimate (in the middle) and a confidence interval (the highest and lowest numeric values).
Future precipitation
Figure 19. Projected changes in precipitation. The left side portrays the change if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced substantially as in pathway 1 (RCP 2.6). The right side portrays the change if the emissions continue to grow at the current rate as in pathway 2 (RCP 8.5). For Finland, the estimates include a calculated best estimate (in the middle) and a confidence interval (the highest and lowest numeric values).
Future cryosphere
Figure 20. Projected changes in cryosphere. The left side portrays the change if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced substantially as in pathway 1 (RCP 2.6). The right side portrays the change if the emissions continue to grow at the current rate as in pathway 2 (RCP 8.5).
Climate change in a nutshell
Figure 21. Climate change in a nutshell. Concentrations of carbon dioxide are expressed in parts per million (ppm) since pre-industrial era (1750).
References: [1]