Sitrep - Global: Global Temperatures Exceed Paris Agreement's Threshold of 2 Degrees Celsius
Art Hunter
Global: Global Temperatures Exceed Paris Agreement's Threshold of 2 Degrees Celsius |
What Happened: Global temperatures reached 2.07 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels on Nov. 17, marking the first time that global temperatures have breached the Paris Agreement's threshold of 2 degrees Celsius, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Nov. 20. Provisional data for Nov. 18 also showed global temperatures breaking through the threshold, reaching 2.06 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Why It Matters: The breach remains largely symbolic since it will only last for a few days, but small islands and large Western countries will use it to push for more ambitious emissions reduction targets at the upcoming 2023 U.N. Climate Change Conference, which opens on Nov. 30. Additionally, such breaches will likely become more common, demonstrating that the Paris Agreement's key thresholds are at significant risk. While global temperatures have already repeatedly broken through the Paris Agreement's original threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the consistent breach of the second threshold will significantly increase the impacts of climate change. Background: On Nov. 20, the United Nations also published its annual emissions gap report, which measures the gap between governments' current climate ambitions and those ambitions' ability to achieve the Paris Agreement's goals to keep global temperatures from rising 2 or 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The report expected global temperatures to rise 2.9 degrees Celsius by the end of the century under governments' current climate ambitions. |