Data Visualization

Observed trends in total greenhouse gas concentration levels, considering all greenhouse gases and other forcing agents (including aerosols)

Data Visualization Created 13 Dec 2017 Last modified 13 Dec 2017

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Topics: Air pollution Climate change adaptation

Data expressed in CO2 equivalents (see rationale for explanation). The figure includes the contribution of Kyoto Protocol gases (KPG), gases under the Montreal Protocol (MPG) and other forcing agents, such as ozone and aerosols (here called non-Protocol Gases, NPG). The 430 and 530 ppm CO2 in equivalents correspond with a 50% probability of limiting the increase in global mean temperature to a respective 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C, above pre-industrial levels. Note that the trend only covers the 1970–2015 period, due to the limited availability of historical data on ozone forcing.

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Units:

Parts per million in CO2 equivalents (ppm CO2 eq).

Methodology:

Observed trends in greenhouse gas concentration levels. Greenhouse gases differ in the way they affect the climate system. In order to sum the effects of the individual greenhouse gasses and other forcing agents in the atmosphere, the so-called ‘greenhouse gas equivalent concentration’ has been defined. This is the concentration of only CO2 that would cause the same amount of radiative forcing as a mixture of CO2 and other forcing agents (greenhouse gases and aerosols).