2023 Shatters Climate Records, But Where’s the 1.5°C Limit?

Before 1.5°C, there was 2°C. In 1995, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_sar_wg_I_full_report.pdf" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">report</a> projecting a 2.5°C warming with a doubling of carbon dioxide. Twenty years later, in 2015’s <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-the-paris-agreement-on-climate-change/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Paris Agreement</a>, some 200 countries agreed to limit warming to 1.5°C. There was just one problem. Very few policymakers or the general public truly understood what a 1.5°C means, the timeline and conditions for reaching it, and the distinctions between various warming scenarios. Seeking clarity, the Paris Agreement parties turned to the IPCC. The resulting <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/33543683.231923/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaXBjYy5jaC9zcjE1Lw/64d1948f2a3572b8f90d20e8B69460787" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">report</a> from October 2018 outlined the stakes of an additional one and a half degrees of warming for the first time. While 1.5°C was not deemed “safe,” it was certainly better than the alternative of 2 degrees. And so, 1.5°C became a rallying cry for diverse groups, from <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/01/21/thunberg-says-eight-years-left-avert-1-5c-warming/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Greta</a> to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-59117750" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">developing nations</a>, all underscoring the urgent need for immediate climate action. <a href="https://medium.com/the-new-climate/2023-shatters-climate-records-but-wheres-the-1-5-c-limit-60a0f25281a6">Website</a>