Global heating will pass 1.5C threshold this year, top ex-Nasa scientist says

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Canadian wildfire 2023
Canadian wildfire 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/08/global-temperature-over-1-5-c-climate-change

James Hansen says limit will be passed ‘for all practical purposes’ by May though other experts predict that will happen in 2030s

The internationally agreed threshold to prevent the Earth from spiraling into a new superheated era will be “passed for all practical purposes” during 2024, the man known as the godfather of climate science has warned.

James Hansen, the former Nasa scientist credited for alerting the world to the dangers of climate change in the 1980s, said that global heating caused by the burning of fossil fuels, amplified by the naturally reoccurring El Niño climatic event, will by May push temperatures to as much as 1.7C (3F) above the average experienced before industrialization.

This temperature high, measured over the 12-month period to May, will not by itself break the commitment made by the world’s governments to limit global heating to 1.5C (2.7F) above the time before the dominance of coal, oil and gas. Scientists say the 1.5C ceiling cannot be considered breached until a string of several years exceed this limit, with this moment considered most likely to happen at some point in the 2030s.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/08/global-temperature-over-1-5-c-climate-change

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