Record-breaking emissions: Time running out for climate action
Greenhouse gas emissions have reached a record high, with annual emissions equivalent to 54 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Since the late 1800s, human activity has caused surface temperatures to rise by 1.14 °C, with an unprecedented increase of over 0.2 °C per decade. Maximum land surface temperatures, which are most relevant to the heat people experience and wildfire risks, are rising twice as fast.
The remaining carbon budget for a 1.5 °C temperature increase – the amount of carbon dioxide that can still be emitted while maintaining a 50% chance of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 °C – is now only around 250 billion tons. At current emission levels, this budget will be depleted in less than six years.
These findings come from a new report, a collaboration between 49 scientists from around the world, which tracks recent changes in emissions, temperatures, and energy flows in the Earth system. The data can inform climate action by indicating how quickly emissions must be reduced to meet international temperature goals.
This report is the first in a series of annual reports that will monitor the Earth’s warming. The initiative, called Indicators of Global Climate Change, will track human-induced warming year by year for the first time by monitoring emissions of greenhouse gases and particulate pollution, as well as their warming or cooling influences on surface temperature changes.
The methodology used in this initiative is based on the comprehensive assessments conducted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). While IPCC assessments are trusted by governments and climate policy negotiators as reliable sources of information, they are published approximately eight years apart.