Global Warming Continues as the Tipping Point is Only 1.5 Degrees! Resulting in a No-Return Catastrophe
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Climate Urgency: Impending Catastrophe as Global Warming Accelerates
The world is hurtling towards a critical climate threshold as global temperatures continue to rise, warns the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Due to a combination of heat-trapping pollution and an impending El Niño event, the WMO predicts that the planet will breach the crucial 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels within the next five years.
The annual climate update by the WMO reveals a disturbing trend of escalating temperatures driven by the ongoing combustion of fossil fuels. Between 2023 and 2027, there is a 66% probability that the Earth’s temperature will exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark for at least one year. Additionally, there is a staggering 98% likelihood that one of the next five years, as well as the entire five-year period, will become the hottest ever recorded.
While breaching the 1.5-degree threshold may be temporary, it serves as an alarming indicator of the rapid acceleration of climate change. This escalation will lead to more severe consequences, such as rising sea levels, intensified extreme weather events, and the irreversible destruction of critical ecosystems.
The Paris Climate Agreement aims to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, with a preferred target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, to prevent catastrophic consequences, including flooding, droughts, wildfires, and food shortages.
Global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels over the next five years and breach the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set out in the Paris climate agreement, scientists say https://t.co/BWKq1huosg
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 17, 2023
The Paris Climate Agreement strives to restrict global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius, to avert devastating outcomes like floods, droughts, wildfires, and food scarcity, as highlighted in a WMO report.
The current record for the hottest year is held by 2016, which followed a particularly strong El Niño event. With El Niño typically leading to temperature spikes the following year, 2024 could potentially break this record.
With the planet already experiencing approximately 1.2 degrees Celsius of warming, primarily due to fossil fuel consumption, the alarming temperature surge persists despite the cooling effects of La Niña over the past three years. The last eight years consecutively ranked as the warmest on record.
Since 2015, the likelihood of temporarily surpassing the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold has steadily increased, with the WMO previously estimating this probability close to zero.
According to the WMO, the average annual global near-surface temperature between 2023 and 2027 is projected to range from 1.1 to 1.8 degrees Celsius higher than the average from 1850 to 1900, the period preceding the significant surge in planet-warming emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion.
