The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that there is a 50 percent chance of average global temperature reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the next five years, and the likelihood is increasing with time, reported UN News.
According to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, there is a 93 percent chance of at least one year between 2022-2026 becoming the warmest on record, dethroning 2016 from the rank.
The chance of the five-year temperature average for 2022-2026 being higher than the last five years (2017-2021) was also estimated to be at 93 percent.
Petteri Taalas, the WMO Secretary-General, said the latest study shows that the world is getting measurably closer to temporarily reaching the lower target of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
He added that the 1.5°C figure is not some random statistic but rather an indicator of the point at which climate impacts will become increasingly harmful for people as well as the entire planet.
Mr. Taalas warned that global temperatures will continue to rise if countries continue to emit greenhouse gases. He added that alongside an increase in temperature, sea ice and glaciers will continue to melt, sea level will continue to rise, the oceans will continue to become warmer and more acidic, and the global weather will become more extreme.
The WMO Secretary-General added that Arctic warming is disproportionately high and what happens in the Arctic will affect all.
The 2015 Paris Agreement outlines the goal of the countries to work towards limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2 °C while pursuing efforts to limit the increase even further to 1.5 °C.
In August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that humans have already caused about 1.07 degrees Celsius of extra warming compared to pre-industrial temperatures between 1850 and 1900.
