Global temperatures are set to reach a new record high in the next five years and have a greater than even chance of temporarily exceeding a rise of more than 1.5C for the first time in human history, the World Meteorological Organization concludes in its latest annual assessment.
In their stark conclusion, scientists said for the first time there was a 66 per cent chance that the annual mean global surface temperature rise would temporarily exceed 1.5C and reach as high as 1.8C above pre-industrial levels in “at least” one year by 2027.
The chances were “increasing with time”, said the report. The 66 per cent assessment of a temporarily breach of the 1.5C threshold compares with estimates of around 48 per cent a year ago, and “close to zero” in 2015.