The United Nations has warned that there is a 70 percent chance that average global temperatures between 2025 and 2029 will exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius benchmark set by the Paris Agreement.
According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) annual climate update released on Wednesday, the planet is expected to remain at historically high levels of warming, following record-breaking heat in 2023 and 2024.
“We have just experienced the 10 warmest years on record,” said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett, adding that the outlook shows “no sign of respite,” with worsening impacts on economies, ecosystems, and daily life.
The WMO projects that global temperatures will range between 1.2°C and 1.9°C above pre-industrial levels over the next five years. There is also an 80 percent chance that at least one year in this period will surpass 2024 as the warmest year ever recorded.
Climate scientists warn that every fraction of a degree of additional warming heightens the risk of extreme weather, including heatwaves, floods, droughts, and ice melt. The Arctic is expected to continue warming faster than the global average, while regions such as South Asia and northern Europe could experience increased rainfall.
Experts say the only path to avoiding even more dangerous warming is an urgent and significant reduction in fossil fuel use.
According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) annual climate update released on Wednesday, the planet is expected to remain at historically high levels of warming, following record-breaking heat in 2023 and 2024.
“We have just experienced the 10 warmest years on record,” said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett, adding that the outlook shows “no sign of respite,” with worsening impacts on economies, ecosystems, and daily life.
The WMO projects that global temperatures will range between 1.2°C and 1.9°C above pre-industrial levels over the next five years. There is also an 80 percent chance that at least one year in this period will surpass 2024 as the warmest year ever recorded.
Climate scientists warn that every fraction of a degree of additional warming heightens the risk of extreme weather, including heatwaves, floods, droughts, and ice melt. The Arctic is expected to continue warming faster than the global average, while regions such as South Asia and northern Europe could experience increased rainfall.
Experts say the only path to avoiding even more dangerous warming is an urgent and significant reduction in fossil fuel use.
