Earth Temporarily Breached the 2°C Warming Limit Last Week! 3°C Won't Take Long, UN Warns | Weather.com - The Weather Channel
Earth Temporarily Breached the 2°C Warming Limit Last Week! 3°C Won’t Take Long, UN Warns | Weather.com
The average global daily temperature crossed a critical threshold on November 17-18 last week, soaring to a remarkable 2°C higher than the 1850-1900 average for the very first time in history! In doing so, it temporarily breached the Paris Agreement, which has set the bar at well below 2°C, ideally not exceeding 1.5°C.
It's important to note that a two-day warming of Earth by 2°C doesn't equate to a failure in achieving the Paris Agreement goals. These objectives are tailored for the broader context of long-term climate, considering the amalgamation of weather patterns over decades.
Despite the global average temperature for 2013-2022 hovering around 1.15°C higher than the pre-industrial 1850-1900 average, it remains comfortably below the critical 1.5°C mark.
But this breach does shed light on the potential severity of extreme weather events, even in the face of a more modest degree of climate change. Therefore, scientists fear it could lead to irreversible damage to our planet if sustained over longer periods.
Amid this temporary spike, the United Nations delivered a stark warning on Monday, declaring that "we are out of road". The countries’ existing carbon-cutting plans have charted a perilous course, anticipating disastrous heating between 2.5°C and 2.9°C by 2100. Should we rely solely on current policies and emissions-cutting efforts, the projection for global warming would ascend to a staggering 3°C, it alerted.
Emissions of greenhouse gases continue to soar, escalating by 1.2% from 2021 to 2022, as reported by UNEP. This concerning surge is predominantly attributed to the combustion of fossil fuels and industrial processes.
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, issued a call for the upcoming COP28 talks starting on November 30, urging leaders to sketch out "dramatic climate action".
"Leaders can't kick the can any further. We're out of road," Guterres emphasised in a poignant statement, denouncing a "failure of leadership, a betrayal of the vulnerable, and a massive missed opportunity." He further insisted that the world "must reverse course" and advocated for a resounding signal at the COP28 meeting, signifying a decisive shift away from polluting coal, oil and gas.
**
For weather and science updates on the go, download The Weather Channel App(on Android and iOS store). It's free!
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.