Figure SPM-5: After CO2
emissions are reduced and atmospheric concentrations stabilize, surface
air temperature continues to rise slowly for a century or more. Thermal
expansion of the ocean continues long after CO2 emissions have been
reduced, and melting of ice sheets continues to contribute to sea-level rise for
many centuries. This figure is a generic illustration for stabilization at any
level between 450 and 1,000 ppm, and therefore has no units on the response axis.
Responses to stabilization trajectories in this range show broadly similar time
courses, but the impacts become progressively larger at higher concentrations
of CO2.
