Climate change: 2023 threatens to blow up the 1.5-degree threshold!

Climate change: 2023 threatens to blow up the 1.5-degree threshold!

An alarming report by the EU climate converter Copernicus shows that 2023 will be the first year since the beginning of the records, in which the global average temperature is more than 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial level. This frightening forecast comes just a few days before the World Climate Conference and makes the world take notice. According to Copernicus, the temperature could even increase by at least 1.55 degrees, which increases the warnings of UN General Secretary António Guterres about a "climate collapse".

"This is a new milestone in the global temperature recording," emphasizes Samantha Burgess, Vice Director of Copernicus. But while some hope that this data will serve as an incentive for the upcoming climate conference COP29, the skepticism remains great. Climate scholar Mojib Latif says that the conference will not bring the desired results. "The cops are obviously not expedient," said Latif. The agreement of Paris to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees could soon become a waste if the temperatures continue to rise.

The alarming numbers

The data is clear: In October 2023, the average air temperature was 15.25 degrees, which is 0.8 degrees above the average from 1991 to 2020 and 1.65 degrees above the pre -industrial level. In the past 16 months, the temperature in 15 cases was at least 1.5 degrees higher. The sea temperatures also reach record values at 20.68 degrees and are closely connected to the high air temperatures. "The oceans cover 71 percent of the earth's surface and make a decisive contribution to the heat distribution," explains Klimaforscher Helge Gößling.

The forecasts for 2024 are dark: "The average temperature anomaly would have to drop to almost zero so that 2024 will not be the warmest year," warns Copernicus. The pressure on politicians is growing to finally take measures to reduce emissions. But Latif is pessimistic: "We will tear the 1.5 degrees and we will also tear the 2 degrees." Time is pushing and the world is on the abyss - climate change is no longer just a future forecast, but a current reality that requires immediate measures.