Assumptions & sources

Interactive and research by Duncan Clark. Extraction figures extrapolated from BP Statistical Review 2014; data are from 2013 and have been adjusted by 2% per year since the start of 2014 to account for estimated subsequent increases, based on PBL NEAA 2014. The all-time carbon budget is set at 2900Gt CO2 (enough to give a two-thirds chance of staying below 2 degree C according to the IPCC AR5 Synthesis Report SPM), of which 1000Gt remains from 2011. Fossil fuel and land use emissions for 2012 and 2013 taken from the Global Carbon Project. Subsequent years assume 1.8% annual growth in total emissions, in line with the trend since the mid-nineteenth century. Historical fossil fuel extraction figures are from BP where available, interpolated for earlier years. Images: Corbis.

“At current rates of fossil fuel use, we'll blow the budget for stopping global warming at 2°C when I am 

On current trends, we'll blow the global carbon budget and lock in more than 2C of global warming in:

 yrs  days  hrs  mins  s
– about the time when you turn

Since you were born, 5 years ago, the world has extracted and burned:

barrels of oil
– enough to fill
tonnes of coal
– the weight of
cubic meters of gas
– enough to fill

What about since you were born?

Enter your age

Since the start of 2015, that makes:

barrels of oil
– enough to fill
tonnes of coal
– the weight of
cubic meters of gas
– enough to fill

Since you loaded this page, fossil fuel companies have extracted:

barrels of oil
– enough to fill
tonnes of coal
– the weight of
cubic meters of gas
– enough to fill