The Earth is overheating: the planet has crossed the temperature threshold with an excess of 1.58°C
Kyiv • UNN
The planet has crossed the temperature threshold with an excess of 1.58°C. April 2025 became the second hottest in history, and the last 12 months were 1.58°C above the pre-industrial level.
The global warming threshold set by the Paris Climate Agreement has been exceeded by 1.5°C. Climate scientists' concerns about this have intensified amid new data showing that the average monthly temperature on the planet has exceeded this critical level for the past 12 months.
This is reported by UNN with reference to FinancialTime.
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According to the European Copernicus Service, April 2025 was the second hottest in recorded history. The average temperature was 14.96°C. This is 1.51°C above the pre-industrial level (1850–1900) and only 0.07°C below the record April 2024.
In the last 12 months, according to the publication, the average air temperature in the world was 1.58°C higher than the pre-industrial level. According to the publication, this confirms the steady increase in temperature, which continues despite the efforts of countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
These efforts are complicated by other global challenges, including economic, defense and trade. UN Climate Change Director Simon Still warned on Wednesday that the world is "on track for a 3°C temperature rise" compared to the pre-industrial era.
At this level, according to scientists, there are possible devastating consequences for the environment and humans.
At talks ahead of the UN climate summit, Still called for faster action and noted that without the Paris Agreement, the projected temperature increase would be much higher - up to 5°C.
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The Paris Agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries, provides for keeping the increase in global temperature within 1.5°C. Fixing a short-term excess does not mean a violation of the agreement, as it assesses average figures for at least a 20-year period.
At the same time, according to Professor of Climatology at the University of Reading Richard Allan, a long period of record heat indicates an almost inevitable exceeding of the lower target threshold.
This, in his opinion, will lead to an increase in extreme weather events - stronger heat waves, droughts and floods.
Last month, abnormally wet conditions caused floods, landslides and avalanches in the Alps, the Midwest of the United States, northern Australia and central South America.
Copernicus also recorded elevated soil surface temperatures in Eastern Europe, parts of Russia, Kazakhstan, Norway, West-Central Asia and Australia. La Niña (a short-term increase in the surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean in its tropical part), which was observed at the beginning of the year over the Pacific Ocean, was expected to cool the planet.
However, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it recently ended and the tropical part of the ocean is currently in a neutral state.