November 7, 2024
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The Earth will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius this year
This year has not been the hottest on record, it could be the first to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set in the Paris climate agreement.
Amanda Montañez; Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service (the data)
2024 is “almost certain” to be the first year warmer than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over the pre-industrial era, before heat-trapping fossil fuels began to accumulate in the atmosphere, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change. The service (C3S) was announced today.
These dubious distinctions mean 2024 will surpass significant annual temperature records established last year, one of the clearest markers of the unfolding planetary climate disaster. “This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst for increased ambition for the next Climate Change Conference, COP29,” C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said in a news release.
Amanda Montañez; Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service (the data)
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The probability of that happening is thrown into question, however, by the news Former US President Donald Trump has won re-election. Trump has promised to increase US fossil fuel production and weakening federal rules that limit emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris administration has taken the most steps to address the climate crisis of any US presidential administration, most notably through the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. Continuation of funding for renewable energy and other climate-related provisions in that and other laws is now up in the air.
Trump has also said he will once again withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, under which countries agreed to try to limit warming below 1.5 degrees C and “well below” 2 degrees C (3.6 F). These limits would not be officially reached until global temperatures were averaged over many years. The world will periodically see several years pass these milestones before reaching long-term averages.
already several months have exceeded the 1.5 degree C mark. This October was 1.65 degrees C (3 degrees F) above pre-industrial times, generally in the 19th century.
Climate scientists say these record temperatures are due to rising levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed last month that CO22 last year it reached a record of 420 parts per million. CO2 in pre-industrial times levels were around 280 ppm.
Thousands of climate studies have shown that the more — and faster — the world can reduce emissions to zero, the more it can avoid the harmful effects of human warming, such as more severe and frequent heat waves, more destructive floods and crop damage. may increase food prices.
