EU: World exceeds 1.5°C warming limit over 12-mth period
Earth has endured 12 months of temperatures 1.5°C hotter than the pre-industrial era for the first time on record, the European Union’s (EU) climate monitor said Thursday, in what scientists called a “warning to humanity”.
Storms, drought and fire have lashed the planet as climate change, supercharged by the naturally-occurring El Nino phenomenon, stoked record warming in 2023, making it likely the hottest in 100,000 years.
The extremes have continued into 2024, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) service said, confirming that February 2023 to January 2024 saw warming of 1.52°C above the 19th century benchmark.
That is a grave foretaste of the Paris climate deal’s crucial 1.5°C warming threshold, but it does not signal a permanent breach of the limit, which is measured over decades, scientists said.
“We are touching 1.5°C and we see the cost, the social costs and economic costs,” said Johan Rockstrom, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Nasa’s satellite to survey oceans and atmosphere
Nasa’s newest climate satellite rocketed into orbit on Thursday to survey the world’s oceans and atmosphere in never-before-seen detail. SpaceX launched the Pace satellite on its $948 million mission before dawn, with the Falcon rocket heading south over the Atlantic to achieve a rare polar orbit.
The satellite will spend at least three years studying the oceans from 676km up, as well as the atmosphere. It will scan the globe daily with two of the three science instruments. A third instrument will take monthly measurements.