Data shows global warming could pass 1.5 degree Celsius in next five years

Most global leaders committed to taking actions that would limit global warming to 1.5ºC and below 2ºC by the end of the century.

There’s about a 40% chance that the global average temperature for at least one of the next five years will be 1.5º Celsius higher than in pre-industrial times—and the odds are only going up. 

That level of temperature increase would most likely be temporary, according to an annual climate update led by the U.K. Met Office and published by the World Meteorological Organization. But the figure is significant because most global leaders committed to taking actions that would limit global warming to 1.5ºC and well below 2ºC by the end of the century when they signed the Paris Agreement in