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Analysis: When might the world exceed 1.5C and 2C of global warming?

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2021-08-26 01:00:06

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Under the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015, virtually all the world’s nations pledged to limit global warming to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels and also, if possible, “pursue” efforts to cap warming at 1.5C. At present, the world is not close to being on track to meet either target. 

While the growth of global emissions has slowed in recent years, there is a large and growing gap between current commitments and what would be needed to avoid exceeding these global temperature limits.

Here, Carbon Brief provides an analysis of when the world is expected to pass these limits in the absence of large future emissions reductions. This is based on the latest generation of climate models – known as ”CMIP6” (see Carbon Brief’s explainer) – that are being run in the lead up to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth assessment report expected in 2021-22.

For example, there is some disagreement among experts around the reference “baseline” period. While the Paris Agreement described the temperature limits as “above pre-industrial levels”, no clear period is defined as pre-industrial. Observational temperature records only extend back to 1850 for some groups producing surface temperature records, and 1880 for others.

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