UN warns world will cross 1.5°C red line of global warming

Every fraction of a degree that the global average temperature rises above the Paris Agreement target will incur a huge cost in bringing temperatures back within limits. It also increases the risk of reaching major tipping points, such as the loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which would be irreversible. Despite the clear consequences of not having taken sufficient action since the agreement reached in the French capital a decade ago, governments around the world do not seem to be acting with the necessary urgency. Global warming will exceed the red line of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels perhaps in the next ten years due to insufficient climate measures and plans by governments, the UN warned on Tuesday. Scientists overwhelmingly agree that exceeding 1.5ºC would increase the risk of some of the worst consequences of climate change, already visible in more extreme and unpredictable weather. Now, the goal must be to make sure that any exceedance is minimal and temporary, said the executive director of the United Nations Climate Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen, in the foreword of a report presented on Tuesday. “Nations have had three attempts to deliver on the promises made in the Paris Agreement, and each time they have deviated from the goal,” he said in a statement. According to the report, it is possible to bring global warming back below the 1.5°C limit by 2100, but this would require immediate action.

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