UN Report: Global Warming Approaching Agreed Limit
What Happened:
A new report released Wednesday by the U.N. World Meteorological Organization said we are getting closer to passing the temperature limit established by global leaders five years ago and may exceed it within the next decade.
In the next five years, we have a 1-in-4 chance of reaching a global temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. That 1.5 degrees Celsius benchmark is the more stringent of the two limits established in 2015 by world leaders in the Paris climate change agreement.
“Drought and heat waves substantially increased the risk of wildfires. The three largest economic losses on record from wildfires have all occurred in the last four years.” - UN 2020 Science Report
The report comes as we experience record heat waves (so far, 2020 is the second hottest year on record behind 2016), drought, severe wildfire damage and a hurricane season that is expected to have above average activity according to the NOAA.
According to the UN report, “Drought and heat waves substantially increased the risk of wildfires. The three largest economic losses on record from wildfires have all occurred in the last four years.”
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