The average global temperature in July was about 1.5°C warmer than the pre-industrial era that ended in the mid-19th century, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Tuesday. . According to the alert of scientists, the world has reached a pre-collapse limit with global warming.
The world got its first preview of what a northern hemisphere summer will look like at 1.5°C of global warming — a threshold that scientists warn the planet must remain within, but has been rapidly approaching in recent years.
The announcement comes after a series of deadly heat waves and remarkable record temperatures across several continents, as well as unprecedented ocean heat around the world. Copernicus scientists say it’s the first summer month to pass the mark, offering a glimpse of future summers.
The average temperature of the surface of the oceans reached a record 20.96ºC last month, according to data from the European observatory Copernicus released in July. Scientists were already warning of an immediate threat.
That peak — which, according to the ERA5 database, was reached on July 30 — surpassed “the previous record of 20.95°C from March 2016,” a Copernicus spokesman told AFP. The oceans absorb 90% of the excess heat from the Earth system caused by industrial-age human activity.
The 1.5 degree threshold is significant because scientists consider it a fundamental tipping point for the planet, beyond which the odds of extreme heat, floods, droughts, wildfires, and food and water shortages will become even more unfavorable for life as we know it.
It is the goal that scientists chose in the framework of the 2015 Paris Agreement to minimize the damage from the climate crisis and, at the same time, give society and the economy time to move away from fossil fuels that warm the planet.
It’s also not something tracked by day or month. Scientists are particularly concerned about global temperature rise staying above 1.5 degrees over the long term. By 2022, the world has warmed by about 1.2 degrees.
The United Nations (UN) developed a series of ambitious goals in 2015 through a “Global Compact”, which involves its 193 member countries. The UN project includes 17 SDGs, that is, Sustainable Development Goals.
The joint effort integrates different sectors of the member countries, such as companies, CSOs and civil society itself. That is, everyone must join forces to achieve the same goals that, at the end of the day, impact the lives of each and every one.
SDG 13, which talks about taking urgent measures to combat climate change and its impacts, needs to be put into practice as soon as possible by all countries that have committed. To avoid a catastrophe that unfortunately is getting closer to happening.
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