The climate warms measurably
Global average temperature passes 1.5°C above pre-industrial in a single year.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 45 years
- Known to
- ± 5 years
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
Every decade since the 1980s has been warmer than the last, and 2023 and 2024 set successive records, with 2024 the first calendar year to exceed 1.5°C above the pre-industrial baseline — not yet a breach of the Paris threshold, which is defined over a longer average, but an indication of where it is heading. Arctic sea ice, glacier mass and coral reefs are all in documented decline, and extreme heat events are now routinely attributed to warming.