Indicators

Cold extreme

Event characterised by an extremely low value of the temperature of the air near the Earth's surface (approximately 2 metres above the ground). The definition of an event (i.e., the temperature value attained during such an event) can be refined by specifying its frequency of occurrence (or return period : 1-in-20-year, 1-in-50-year, etc.) over the reference period of interest (pre-industrial or present-day). The Dashboard provides information on both changes in the intensity of an event of such frequency in the selected reference period over time (quantified in °C under the Impact overview tab), as well as on changes in the frequency of occurrence of an event at least as extreme over time (quantified in % under the (Un)avoidable risk tab).

Hot extreme

Event characterised by an extremely high value of the temperature of the air near the Earth's surface (approximately 2 metres above the ground). The definition of an event (i.e., the temperature value attained during such an event) can be refined by specifying its frequency of occurrence (or return period: 1-in-20-year, 1-in-50-year, etc.) over the reference period of interest (pre-industrial or present-day). The Dashboard provides information on both changes in the intensity of an event of such frequency in the selected reference period over time (quantified in °C under the Impact Analysis tab), as well as on changes in the frequency of occurrence of an event at least as extreme over time (quantified in % under the (Un)avoidable risk tab).

Mean temperature

Temperature of the air near the Earth's surface (approximately 2 metres above the ground), and averaged over the time scale of interest (a full year, a specific month, etc.). Changes in this indicator are expressed in degrees Celsius (°C).

Key Terms

Overshoot scenarios

Scenarios that temporarily exceed a specific warming limit expressed in global mean temperature increase above pre-industrial levels before bringing the temperature back down again, e.g., by deploying CDR.

Temperature overshoot

The temporary exceedance of a specified level of global warming, such as 1.5°C. Overshoot implies a peak followed by a decline in global warming, achieved through anthropogenic removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) exceeding remaining CO2 emissions globally.