“Humanity is altering Earth’s life support system. Carbon dioxide emissions are accelerating; greenhouse gas levels are unprecedented in human history,” says a new video summarizing some of the most striking finds of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report. The climate system is changing rapidly, and it is “extremely likely,” the video quotes the IPCC, that humans are the central reason why.

Produced by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program and Globaia, and funded by the UN Foundation, Climate Change: The State of Science not only shows the probability of different climactic changes and the areas they will affect, but also the globe-spanning footprint of modern humanity.

Glittering highway, rail, air, and shipping routes overlaid on night lights illustrate the digital, connected “age of man,” or Anthropocene, as geologists call the current era. Human activities are indeed having a global impact: ocean acidity has increased 26 percent since the start of the Industrial Revolution; Arctic sea ice is likely to vanish during summer within decades (66 to 100 percent certainty); sea-level rise is very likely to accelerate (90 to 100 percent certainty) flooding low-lying areas like the Netherlands, Belgium, Bangladesh, and Vietnam; monsoons are likely to last longer and grow in size (66 to 100 percent certainty); and wet and dry areas are generally projected to become wetter and drier, respectively.

In concert with the IPPC’s recommendations, the video concludes with a call to action. In order to have a likely chance of remaining under the internationally agreed upon temperature target of 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the world can collectively emit no more than 250 billion additional tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Given the current rate of 10 billion tons burned each year, our budget will expire before 2040. This represents an ambitious set of challenges for policymakers.

“The scale of change depends on decisions made now,” the video says. “Can we remain below two degrees? It is possible, but it is up to societies now to decide the future we want.”

The remainder of the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report will be released in three installments throughout 2014, covering societal impacts, vulnerability, and mitigation.

Video Credit: “Climate Change: The State of Science,” courtesy of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program.