© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Climate change – what next? It’s April Scientists from more than 100 countries have worked through the night. At last, they have agreed exactly what to say in a summary report on the impacts of climate change.

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Bad news The report is not a cheerful one. It says that: 75 – 250 million people in Africa could face water shortages by % of all plant and animal species are at risk of extinction if average temperatures rise by just 1.5 – 2.5 °C

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Working together Scientists worked on the report for months. They looked carefully at hundreds of scientific studies from all over the world. Together, the studies were based on over pieces of data observations of the environment.

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Working together The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the report.

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future More bad news Another IPCC report predicts: Average global air temperatures will probably rise by between 1.8 °C and 4 °C by 2100 Sea levels are likely to rise by 28 – 43 cm Arctic sea ice is likely to disappear in the second half of the century It is very likely that there will be more heatwaves in some parts of the world It is likely that tropical storms will become more intense

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Making predictions How good are the predictions? Of course, no-one can be sure exactly what will happen in future. But most scientists are confident in their predictions that the Earth will continue to get hotter.

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Climate change – what next? Some predictions are based on things which are happening already, like ice caps melting and sea levels rising. But other effects on the climate, such as stronger storms and higher rainfall, are harder to predict.

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Working together – big time! Scientists can improve their predictions by modelling many possible changes. But this needs huge computer power! The climateprediction.net project uses spare computer power in homes, schools and offices all over the world to model climate change. The project is run by universities and the Met office.

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Working together – big time! The climateprediction.net website has nearly 314,000 computers running its model. The results will help scientists make more accurate and detailed climate change predictions.

© Oxford University Press Global warming – the future Working together – big time! Scientists may never be able to completely predict all the effects of global warming but thousands of people working together on projects like climateprediction.net will bring them closer.