November 7, 2024
2 minimum read
Global warming this year will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius
Not only will this year be the hottest year on record, but the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set by the Paris Climate Agreement could be exceeded for the first time.
Amanda Montanez. Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service (data)
According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Initiative, 2024 will be the first year that the world will be more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than before the industrial revolution, before heat-trapping fossil fuels started building up in the atmosphere. is “almost certain”. Today we announced our service (C3S).
These dubious distinctions mean that 2024 will surpass the remarkable annual temperature record set just last year, one of the clearest indicators of the ongoing planetary climate catastrophe. “This is another milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst for increasing ambition for the upcoming climate change conference, COP29,” C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said in a news release.
Amanda Montanez. Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service (data)
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However, with the news that former US President Donald Trump has been re-elected, that possibility is in doubt. President Trump has promised to increase U.S. fossil fuel production and weaken federal rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris administration has taken more action than any U.S. presidential administration to address the climate crisis, primarily through enacting anti-inflation legislation. Continuation of funding for renewable energy and other climate-related provisions in the Act and other legislation is currently up in the air.
Trump also said he would once again remove the United States from the Paris climate accord, in which countries agreed to try to limit temperature rise to “well below” 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius. These limits are not officially reached until global temperatures reach average temperatures for several years. The world will regularly exceed these milestones for several years before such long-term averages are achieved.
Temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C for several months. Temperatures in October this year were 1.65 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than in the pre-industrial period, generally defined as the late 19th century.
Climate scientists say these temperature records are overwhelmingly due to continued rise in levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said last month that CO2 Last year, it reached an all-time high of 420 ppm. C.O.2 Pre-industrial levels were around 280 ppm.
Thousands of climate studies have shown that the more the world can cut emissions to zero, the more severe and frequent heat waves, massive and destructive floods, and damage to crops caused by global warming. It shows that humans can avoid harmful effects. It could drive up food prices.
