The First Year-Long 1.5C Limit Breach in History

For the first time, global warming has increased by more than 1.5C over a whole year.

While the world is not yet at the point where it has violated the Paris Climate Agreement, this year-long violation does move the globe closer to doing so in the long run. With 195 signatories, the legally binding 1.5C limit is a 2015 agreement that lays out a plan for addressing climate change.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) of Europe measured temperatures from February 2023 to January 2024 and released its results earlier this month.

The program's 12-month average global temperature at this time was 1.52C above pre-industrial levels, the highest ever recorded. In addition, January 2024 was the warmest January ever recorded—the ninth time in a row.

Additionally, according to CS3, the average temperature of the world's sea surface has surpassed prior records set on August 23 and 24, 2023. CS3's data indicates that January was 1.66C warmer than estimates of the January average for the period 1850–1900, which is the pre-industrial reference period used to measure catastrophic global warming caused by humans.

Given the harm already done, staying below 1.5C is often seen as the best case scenario because it would mitigate some of the worst effects of global warming.

Although the official goal of the Paris Agreement is to keep warming "well below" the harder limit of 2C, current research suggests that even a small amount of heat above 1.5C might cause a major snowball effect of increased climate change.

In light of this, greater warming is anticipated even though the first 12-month violation of the 1.5C warming target does not directly contradict the terms of the Paris Agreement. And a multi-year rise to 1.5C, which many experts say is already unavoidable, may pose an existential threat to low-lying and island nations already suffering from warming-related challenges.

Unprecedented extreme weather phenomena, such as wildfires, storms, floods, droughts, and fluctuating rainfall, have occurred during the past year. These events have resulted in severe environmental damage, crop loss, illness, and fatalities.

One of the main causes of the climate catastrophe is animal farming. It is also a major cause of pollution, freshwater consumption, species extinction, biodiversity loss, and land use, accounting for at least 16.5% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts have long maintained that if we are to have any chance of preventing a global warming catastrophe, there must be a significant overhaul of our food system. According to a 2023 study from the University of Oxford, diets based primarily on plants produce 75% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than diets based on animals. "Our food decisions have a significant effect on the environment. Reducing your consumption of meat and dairy products can significantly alter your nutritional footprint, according to research author Professor Peter Scarborough of Oxford University.