The UN's Latest Climate Report Comes With an Uncomfortable Timeline

Global temperatures are heading into dangerous territory, according to a new report from the United Nations (U.N.) Why are climatologists so concerned, and what can be done to reverse this trend?

UN Report Gives Advice to Reverse Alarming Warming Trend

A new report from the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) is raising the red flag about global temperatures. Average temperatures around the world are expected to exceed 34.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial temperatures within the next few years. The U.N. report notes that while the rising temperatures will continue to present widespread risks across the planet, there is still time to bring the readings down to the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement.

The U.N. report, Limiting Overshoot: Navigating Exceedance of 1.5°C and Pathways Towards Return, details an "overshoot, peak and decline" path as the recommended option to stay in accordance with the Paris Agreement. The goal of this plan is to reduce overshoot so that temperatures return to readings under the 34.7-degree target.

U.N. Secretary-General Antőnio Guterres cautioned that "This summer's scorching heat, raging wildfires and deadly floods are a warning of what lies ahead." He went on to say that "We must make the overshoot above 1.5 degrees (34.7 F) as small and short as possible. That demands an overshoot of ambition."