World now likely to hit watershed 1.5 °C rise in next five years

05 Jul, 2021
Photo: WMO/Agusti Descarrega Sola

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there was a 40% chance of the watershed global warming mark being met during the time frame, and these odds are increasing with time.

The 1.5°C mark was established as the desirable target for all the countries of the world who signed up to the Paris Agreement to limit temperature rises, in order to prevent permanent changes that threaten the wellbeing of all life on earth. The agreement calls for limiting rises to 2°C or below.

There is a 90% likelihood of at least one year between 2021-2025 becoming the warmest on record, which would dislodge 2016 from the top ranking, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, produced by the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the WMO lead centre for such predictions.

Up to the end of 2025, high-latitude regions and the Sahel are likely to be wetter, and there is an increased chance of more tropical cyclones in the Atlantic compared to the average, taken from the start of the 1980s.

In 2020 – one of the three warmest years on record – the global average temperature was 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial baseline. It highlighted the acceleration in climate change indicators like rising sea levels, melting sea ice, and extreme weather, as well as worsening impacts on socio-economic development.

Source: UN News

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