Rising global temperatures 'inexorably closer' to climate tipping point - U.N.

(Reuters, 27 May 2021) Global temperatures could temporarily reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the next five years, says WMO.

There is now a 40% chance that global temperatures will temporarily reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the next five years -- and these odds are rising, a U.N. report said on Wednesday.

This does not yet mean that the world would already be crossing the long-term warming 1.5-degree threshold set by the Paris Climate Accord, which scientists warn is the ceiling to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. The Paris Accord target looks at temperature over a 30-year average, rather than a single year.

But it does underscore that "we are getting measurably and inexorably closer" to that threshold, said U.N. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement. Taalas described the study as "yet another wakeup call" to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

Every year from 2021 through 2025 is likely to be at least 1 degree Celsius warmer, according to the study.

The report also predicts a 90% chance that at least one of those years will become the warmest year on record, topping 2016 temperatures.

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Reuters, 27 May 2021: Rising global temperatures 'inexorably closer' to climate tipping point - U.N.