Heat record

After warmest year, world likely to cross 1.5 degree C climate-change threshold

The world in 2023 recorded its warmest calendar year since the start of the industrial era, with an average surface temperature that was 1.48 degrees C higher than preindustrial times, said the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service on Tuesday. Very soon, the world will see a 12-month period that exceeds the 1.5 degree threshold, where sustained high temperatures heighten the risk of climate-related catastrophes.