Temperature rise in past year exceeds 1.5 °C warming limit: report

The temperature rise between February 2023 and January 2024 has surpassed the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit for the first time on record, reported Xinhua, quoting a report published by the European Union's (EU) Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Thursday.

As per the report, the period between February 2023 and January 2024 witnessed a temperature surge of 1.52 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels set by the Paris Agreement, making 2023 the hottest year since the 1850-1900 pre-industrial era.

Additionally, January 2024 recorded the highest average temperature at 13.14 degrees Celsius, 1.66 degrees above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, according to the Copernicus report.

"2024 starts with another record-breaking month," C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said. "Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing."

Countries agreed at the United Nations climate talks in Paris in 2015 to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius while aiming to cap it at 1.5 degrees Celsius, a level regarded as crucial to preventing the most severe consequences.

European temperatures varied, with those in the Nordic countries "much below" the average from 1991 to 2020 and those in the south of the continent "much above" it, the report said.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, is playing a key role in fighting climate change. It is seeking to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, five years ahead of the European Union target. By 2030, greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 65 percent compared to the 1990 levels.

However, Germany also experienced the warmest year on record in 2023, according to the country's National Meteorological Service (DWD).

Beyond Europe, January temperatures were recorded "well above average" in eastern Canada, north-western Africa, the Middle East and central Asia although temperatures in western Canada, the central United States, and most of eastern Siberia were below the average, the C3S report said.

"Climate change is still continuing unabated," said Andreas Becker, head of the climate monitoring department at DWD. "We must therefore persistently expand climate protection as well as mitigate the damage caused by increasingly severe weather extremes through prevention and climate adaptation," he added.