How much the world will warm during your lifetime

IT’S one thing to predict climate change will cause huge increases in temperature for future generations. But how much will you and I be affected?

That sun looks pretty hot, doesn’t it?

IT IS one thing to predict climate change will cause huge increases in temperature for future generations. But how much will you and I be affected?

The Guardian UK has put together a neat interactive using data from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which was released on Friday.

The interactive asks for your date of birth, then uses it to predict how much the world’s temperature will have risen by your retirement and your death.

News.com.au plugged in a bunch of different birth dates, and the results are below. All figures are in degrees celsius.

These numbers may not mean much by themselves, so here’s some context. Global temperatures have risen by about 0.75 degrees in the last 150 years. The worst case scenario below predicts an additional rise of more than five degrees over the next century.

1965

Increase by retirement: 1.1-1.6.

Increase in lifetime: 1.5-2.8

1975

Increase by retirement: 1.3-2.2

Increase in lifetime: 1.7-3.5

1985

Increase by retirement: 1.5-2.8

Increase in lifetime: 2-4.3

1995

Increase by retirement: 1.7-3.6

Increase in lifetime: 2.3-5

2005

Increase by retirement: 2-4.3

Increase in lifetime: 2.5-5.7

2013

Increase by retirement: 2.2-4.8

Increase in lifetime: 2.7-6.3

These temperature projections are based on the IPCC’s “RCP8.5” scenario, which predicts the effect of a high concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The IPCC has nominated an increase of two degrees as the catastrophic “tipping point”, which would cause irreparable damage to the environment.

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