Global temperature limit: First year-long breach of 1.5°C limit

For the first time in history, the world has breached the 1.5°C global temperature limit across an entire year.

According to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, February 2023 to January 2024 reached 1.52°C of warming. The world's sea surface temperature is also at its highest ever recorded average.

It doesn't break the Paris agreement, but that isn't exactly reassuring. An extra half a degree of warming greatly increases the risk of passing the "tipping points" with potentially catastrophic and irreversible consequences for some aspects of the planet.

The world began exceeding the 1.5°C mark on an almost daily basis during the second half of 2023, and it's probably no coincidence that that coincided with when El Niño kicked in either.

With El Niño predicted to come to an end in the coming months, this may lead to a stabilisation of the global temperatures for now, though there is no guarantee with other factors also contributing to the warming.