SUMMARYNew findings presented at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya warn that global warming is accelerating faster than expected. Climate Action Tracker projects the planet is still headed toward nearly 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming by 2100, while Copernicus says the world could cross the Paris Agreement’s 2.7-degree threshold as soon as 2029.
ANTALYA, Turkey—Amid upbeat green-tech pep talks and notices for happy hours at the annual United Nations COP31 climate change conference on Thursday, two new reports offered a stark reminder of how far the world remains from containing global warming.
Climate Action Tracker, a nonprofit group that analyzes climate policies, found that the planet is still on track to warm nearly 5° Fahrenheit by 2100, a rise that would devastate coral reefs, disrupt agriculture and forests and melt most of the world’s ice. In a separate bulletin, the European Union’s Copernicus climate change service reported that global warming has accelerated significantly since the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
When the Paris agreement was adopted, the average global temperature was projected to surpass the pact’s long-term threshold of 2.7° Fahrenheit above the preindustrial average around 2045. After another decade of global climate summits, warming is now projected to cross that benchmark as soon as 2029, according to Copernicus.