The Paris Agreement, legally binding and now in force, set a target for managing climate change via global temperature. The target set was a limit on global temp rise of 1.5° C this century.

However, a new study shows global temperature is rapidly approaching the Paris target.

In the absence of external cooling influences, such as volcanic eruptions, temperature projections are centered on breaching the 1.5° C target before 2029.

The phase of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation will regulate the rate at which mean temperature approaches the 1.5° C level. Predictions indicate a sustained period of rapid temperature rise might be underway.

Photo Credit: Center for Clean Air Policy