When the Paris Accords were agreed to by the world's nations, they set a limit of how much rise in temperature could be allowed. They said the limit should be 1.5 degrees centigrade, or if a year exceeds that temporarily, it should never exceed 2 degrees centigrade. They believed that 2 degrees was a tipping point beyond which the climate could not recover.
In 2023, the world experienced its hottest year ever. The first five months were among the hottest years recorded, and the last seven months set huge new records in heat. The year finished 1.8 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels.
That exceeds the 1.5 degree goal, and is coming very close to a 2 degree rise. Was 2023 an anomaly? Or is the global warming reaching its tipping point? We won't know for sure until we see what happens in 2024. But it should be frightening enough to spur serious and coordinated action by the nations of the world.
Unfortunately, it does not look like the United States (which should be leading the effort to control global warming) will take the action necessary. The Republicans in Congress still have the power to block serious efforts to control the warming climate. Their only energy point is to say we should be drilling more for fossil fuels (even though we are already the world's leading producer).
Unless we act soon, we will assuredly reach the tipping point -- beyond which nothing can be done to stop radical and disastrous climate change. The only way to prevent that is to vote the fossil fuel loving Republicans out of power -- and it must be done soon. We are running out of time.
