The average global temperature has for the first time breached the critical benchmark of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels over a 12-month period, according to data from the European earth observation agency showing that last month was the hottest January on record.
As countries contend with bouts of extreme weather events, including floods and wildfires, the Brussels-based Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said the global mean temperature for February 2023 to January 2024 was the highest ever at 15.02C, 1.52C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.
The 1.5C level is a crucial threshold in the 2015 Paris agreement, in which countries agreed to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C and ideally to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.