National Geographic’s special "Six Degrees Could Change the World" explores the potential impacts of global warming degree-by-degree - through six degrees over the next hundred years. Filmed on five continents, the program tracks the world’s top climate researchers and follows ranchers, photographers, and everyday people to uncover climate trends.

One Degree of Warming

At one degree of warming, the Arctic is ice-free for half the year, the South Atlantic—typically void of hurricanes—experiences coastal hurricanes, and in the western U.S. severe droughts are plaguing residents.

Two Degrees of Warming

Polar bears struggle to survive as glaciers increasingly melt away. Glaciers in Greenland begin to disappear, while coral reefs are vanishing.

Three Degrees of Warming

The Amazon rainforest is drying out and El Niño’s intense weather pattern becomes the norm. Europe repeatedly experiences searing summer heat that has rarely happened before.

Four Degrees of Warming

Oceans could rise, taking over coastal cities. The disappearance of glaciers may deprive many of fresh water. Northern Canada’s agriculture could boom and a Scandinavian beach could be the next tourism hotspot. A part of Antarctica could collapse, causing water to rise even further.

Five Degrees of Warming

Uninhabitable zones could spread, snow pack and aquifers feeding big cities could dry up, and climate refugees could run in the millions. Human civilization could begin to break down with this drastic of changes to the climate. The poor would likely suffer the most.

Six Degrees of Warming

At six degrees, the oceans could be marine wastelands, the deserts could march across continents, and natural disasters could become common events. The world’s great cities could be flooded and abandoned. This could be “the doomsday scenario.”

(There's also a fully interactive version of the site that's spectacular!)

Source: National Geographic Channel