World sees first 12 months above 1.5C warming level
Earth has endured 12 consecutive months of temperatures 1.5C hotter than the pre-industrial era for the first time on record, Europe's climate monitor said on Thursday, in what scientists called a "warning to humanity." Storms, drought and fire have lashed the planet as climate change – supercharged by the naturally-occurring El Nino weather phenomenon – stoked record warming in 2023, making it likely the hottest in 100,000 years. The extremes have continued into 2024, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) service said, confirming that February 2023 to January 2024 saw warming of 1.52 degrees Celsius above the 19th century benchmark. That is an alarming foretaste of future impacts even if global warming can be capped at the Paris climate deal's crucial 1.5C threshold, scientists said. It also underscores the urgent need to reduce planet-heating emissions. But it does not signal a permanent breach of the limit, which is measured over decades. "We are touching 1.5C and we see the cost – the social costs and economic costs," said Johan Rockstrom, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "1.5 is a very big number and it hurts us really badly in terms of heatwaves, droughts, floods, reinforced storms, water scarcity across the entire world. That is what 2023 has taught us." Recent months have seen a global onslaught of extremes, including devastating drought gripping the Amazon basin, sweltering winter temperatures in parts of southern Europe and deadly wildfires in Canada and South America. "It is clearly a warning to humanity that we are moving faster than expected towards the agreed upon 1.5C limit," Rockstrom said. He said temperatures will likely fall back somewhat after the El Nino ends in coming months, but added: "we're very, very close to a longer term breach." The UN's IPCC climate panel had already warned that the world will likely crash through 1.5C in the early 2030s. Planet-heating emissions, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, have risen in recent years, even as scientists say they need to fall by almost half this decade. "Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing," said Samantha Burgess, C3S deputy director. (AFP)