This Is the Only Comic You Need to See to Understand Climate Change

Earth's temperature has fluctuated throughout its 6 billion years, but in recent history, specifically the last century, our planet's average temperature has been increasing at an alarming rate. A graphic designer named Randall Munroe recently shared a chronicle of Earth's temperature with corresponding historical dates.

We are witnessing catastrophic storms, more floods, rising sea levels, and unprecedented droughts. Though some continue to deny climate change, the evidence indicates that if we continue to release carbon dioxide at the same rate we are presently, then Earth could be four degrees warmer by 2100. The effects could be detrimental and alter Earth's geography as we know it dramatically. At the end of the graphic, Munroe indicates an optimistic level of warming, but even that is drastically far from our current path.