3.8  Baked in warming

Some energetic momentum from warming is ‘baked in’

We know that worsening impacts from Climate Change are ‘baked in’ to the climate system for at least the next 20 years. This means there is a time delay between when we put a molecule of CO2 into the atmosphere, and when it has an impact. Even if we were able to stop emitting CO2 today, we would still see the impacts continue for at least the next 20 years.

The amount of Earth temperature warming ‘baked in’ by CO2 emissions that are already in the atmosphere, is around 0.2 to 0.6 degrees Celsius. 

The world has already warmed 1.2 degrees Celsius. That means from Sept 2021, we are actually committed to a temperature rise of somewhere between 1.3 and 1.7 degrees Celsius. 

The Earth is likely to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius in the early years of the 2030s. That is about 10 years from today.

Reference: Information from the Special IPCC Briefing with Professor Lesley Hughes – organised by Groundswell Giving - Thu 2nd Sep 2021, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm AEST