An Inconvenient Projection

While Maddie Stone notes the continued rise in carbon dioxide emissions in the ten years since Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, a study published in Nature Climate Change examines the consequences of using up all known fossil fuels.

For this scenario of unmitigated fossil fuel burning, a total of 5 trillion tons would have found its way to the atmosphere by 2300 in the form of carbon dioxide.

Under this scenario, CO2 stabilizes at roughly 2,000 parts per million.

Five trillion tons of carbon would raise global temperatures by 6.4-9.5 C, relative to preindustrial times.

According to author Richard Allen:

This is a useful ‘what if’ study that exercises computer simulations to their limits. But, in reality, the damage to societies and ecosystems by such severe climate change would cripple economies to such an extent that it would be practically impossible to burn all the fossil fuel reserves.