Global warming has accelerated “significantly” over the past 10 years, meaning the world may barrel through crucial global warming limits faster than expected, according to the study published Friday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. But Earth systems are very complex and it is hard to figure out whether a few abnormally hot years means the long-term trend of global warming is speeding up. Current projections suggest the internationally agreed-upon global warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius — which refers to the average over decades not single years — will be breached at some point in the 2030s. But if this accelerated warming rate continues, the world will likely reach 1.5 degrees before 2030, the report found. “In a nutshell, what this study is doing is finally DETECTING what scientists have long PREDICTED,” she wrote in an email.

Source: CNN March 06, 2026 17:00 UTC