1.5 Degrees Celsius Was the Climate Change Line. The UN Says We're About to Cross It

For more than a decade, the United Nations (UN) has challenged world leaders to curb global warming . The goal for leaders has been an average annual temperature of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) over pre-industrial times. On Wednesday, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report that says humans have failed that test. 

"Global temperature rise is set to cross 1.5°C," the UNEP wrote in a press release. It will happen in the next few years, the report says. It also noted that higher temps will push climate risks and impacts to "dangerous heights." 

Climate experts widely agree that a benchmark of 1.5°C is the point at which many of the bad effects of such warming become more severe. That includes droughts, wildfires, melting glaciers, and rising oceans. The benchmark was set in the Paris climate accord of 2015 by 195 nations. Wednesday’s report is the UN’s most clear statement that the world will not achieve that goal.  

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the world is "speeding past the limit."  

The report notes that the world’s annual average temperature has surpassed the 1.5°C mark a few times. It says the new “best-case scenario” is a peak of 1.8°C. That said, experts admit that the current pace of warming could see the world at 2.0°C or higher over pre-industrial times by 2100. 

The UN has shifted away from its plan to prevent hitting the 1.5°C limit. It is now calling for a new plan. They have named it “Limiting Overshoot.” To do so will require major climate action, the UN says. But it could also allow Earth to stabilize temps. That can't happen, though, without buy-in from global leaders.     

Reflect: If you could ask the leaders working to protect our planet one question, what would you ask them?