Global warming is happening much faster than scientists expected, according to a UN-sponsored review of climate change that was published Monday.
The report says that a crucial temperature threshold is on pace now to be crossed as early as 2030, approximately a decade sooner than previously thought.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were higher in 2019 than in 2 million years, while the past 50 years saw the fastest temperature increases in at least 2,000 years.
The United Nations called it a “code red for humanity.”
In 2015, world leaders agreed in the Paris climate agreement to try to limit warming increases by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The world has already warmed nearly 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since then.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made its strongest statement ever, reiterating that the connection between human emissions of greenhouse gases and global warming is “unequivocal.”