DATA VAN DE DAG - In climate negotiations since Cancun in 2009 the statement "keep below 2 degrees above pre-industrial level for the year 2100" is used. We trying to quantify this using the available data.

This target is mentioned in a lot of agreements in the last 5 years. But an exact definition can not be found.

In the documentation from the IPCC they state that "pre-industrial" must be seen as the average of the period from 1861 till 1880. We've checked this with two people who contributed to the last IPCC reports.

Given the fact that only MetOffice has keep track of global temperatures since 1850, we use them to keep track of this target.

We keep searching for the exact and formal definition. And we will adjust the graph if we find it to differ from the assumption previously mentioned.

This post will be no longer be updated. Version here is beter. See also discussion below there.