The planet we call home is heating up, and it’s doing so at a pace that is both remarkable and deeply concerning.

A recent scientific report has shed light on the stark realities of climate change, underlining a surge in global temperatures and attributing the overwhelming majority of this increase to human activities.

As the political arena juggles with decisions on climate action, this news is more than just fodder for debate—it’s a clarion call for urgent intervention.

According to the University of Leeds’ second annual Indicators of Global Climate Change study, human-induced warming has risen to 1.19°C over the past decade (2014–2023), compared to 1.14°C from the previous decade (2013–2022), as detailed in last year’s report.

In 2023 alone, global warming due to human activities reached 1.3°C.

However, the overall warming observed in 2023 was 1.43°C, indicating that El Niño and other natural climate variability factors also played a role in the record temperatures of that year.

The research also indicates that only about 200 gigatonnes (billion tonnes) of residual carbon dioxide can be emitted, or approximately five years’ worth of current emissions, before committing to 1.5°C of global warming.

In 2020, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C was between 300 and 900 gigatonnes, with a central estimate of 500 gigatonnes. However, global warming and CO2 emissions have continued since then.

By early 2024, the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C was estimated to be between 100 and 450 gigatonnes, with a central estimate of 200 gigatonnes.

Professor Piers Forster, Director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds, leads the Indicators of Global Climate Change Project.

He states that their analysis reveals an ongoing increase in the level of global warming caused by human actions over the past year, despite efforts to slow the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.

Consequently, global temperatures continue to trend in the wrong direction, accelerating at an unprecedented rate.

Forster explained,“Our analysis is designed to track the long-term trends caused by human activities. Observed temperatures are a product of this long-term trend modulated by shorter-term natural variations. Last year, when observed temperature records were broken, these natural factors were temporarily adding around 10 % to the long-term warming.”

This warning coincides with climate experts gathering in Bonn to prepare for the COP29 climate summit, scheduled for November in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading authority on climate science. However, its next major assessment is not expected until around 2027, creating an “information gap” as climate indicators continue to change rapidly.

Relevant articles:
– World Environment Day: Humans are warming the planet faster than ever before, Earth.com
– NASA Science, NASA Science (.gov)
– New study finds Earth warming at record rate, Spectrum News NY1
– New study finds Earth warming at record rate, but no evidence of climate change accelerating, KCRA