Paris Accord 1.5C Threshold Could Be Breached in 4 Years as Warming Accelerates: New Analysis
etvbharat.comA new international analysis involving over 70 scientists from 56 institutions warns that human-induced global warming reached 1.37 degrees Celsius in 2025, and the Paris Agreement's 1.5C threshold could be breached within four years. The study, published in Earth System Science Data, shows that greenhouse gas emissions hit a record 56.8 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2024, driven mainly by fossil fuel burning. The remaining carbon budget to stay below 1.5C is only about 130 gigatonnes from 2026, which at current emission rates would be exhausted in roughly three years. The researchers highlight that the Earth's energy imbalance, which measures heat accumulation in the climate system, has doubled in recent decades and is now at a record high. This acceleration is driven by record GHG levels and a decline in sulphur aerosols that previously masked some warming. The report also notes that marine heatwaves have more than tripled globally between 1991 and 2025, threatening ecosystems and food production. The authors stress that society must massively increase decarbonization efforts during this critical decade to slow the accumulation of heat.