World 'Likely' To Breach 1.5C Climate Limit By 2028

Global temperatures are likely to surpass the key limit of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in the next five years, scientists have warned.

- LOUISE BOYLE MARTHA MCHARDY

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said there is a 66 per cent chance of passing the temperature threshold between now and 2027. It would be the first time in human history such a temperature has been recorded. The WMO also said there is a 98 per cent chance of the hottest year on record being broken by 2027.

Hitting 1.5C, the limit established by the Paris Agreement, does not mean temperatures will remain there. The global average would need to be breached more than once before long-term warming can be said to have taken place. WMO secretary general Petteri Taalas said yesterday that the agency was “sounding the alarm” that hitting the benchmark would happen with more frequency.

The update made for grim, but not entirely unexpected, reading as scientists have warned of the impact that greenhouse gas emissions, largely from burning fossil fuels, are having on global heat. Beyond 1.5C, climate impacts will become more severe on people and the natural world, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned earlier this year. Reining in every fraction of warming is critical, the IPCC stated.