Earlier this month a new climate study was published and it almost went unnoticed in the mainstream media, and this, despite the most alarming news. According to this new paper, the rate of global warming has gone from 0.2 °C per decade between 1970 to 2015 to 0.35 °C per decade since 2015.
This means that by the end of the decade, Earth will be on track to breach – and stay beyond – the threshold of the Paris Agreement (2015) with 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial levels.
As Time Magazine notes, all ten of the hottest years on record have been since 2015, with 2024 already beating the 1.5°C limit. Stopping and reversing climate change will get harder and harder the longer we wait. It will even become impossible at some point with emissions being locked in with positive feedback loops and tipping points.
Below is a graph French climate scientist Serge Zaka published on social media. It is quite evident pointed out this way : climate change IS indeed accelerating.
It is not as if we were not seeing it coming. The long documented consequences of a warming climate are hitting us all harder each year. From rising sea levels and coastal erosion to extreme weather events that are increasing in both intensity and frequency.
After over 20 years of reading and writing about these topics, I admit I have lost faith in Humanity to adress meaningfuly this crisis, and to be honest, any of our major crises (biodiversity erosion, rising inequalities…)
Yes, renewables are now being adopted globally at an exponential rate. Yes, batteries have the potential to store massive amounts of clean electricity around the world. These are good news and we should rejoice. And we should acknowledge that this is nowhere near enough to actually drive a dent into our increasing emissions : 2025 will most likely be yet another year for record emissions as Carbon Brief pointed out.
Indeed, electrification is lagging in both the European Union and North America. Nor are we are anywhere near building systems or societies that change pace or goals towards actual sustainability…
Will anything positive comes out of the latest war in the Middle East ? Will the world’s leaders actually wake up and implement the changes most of people want ? Only time will tell. Either way I will keep on reporting.
