Given that in southern European countries such as Spain we are already seeing temperatures of over 35°C before June has even begun, and with the UK in the midst of an unprecedented heatwave, it is clear to everyone that the world is becoming a very, very hot place. And now a new report from the UN and the UK Met Office (thanks, Reuters) predicts a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030, which would essentially mean that the Climate Agreement signed by most of the world's countries (but not by the major polluters and producers of greenhouse gases, such as China, Russia, or the United States), signed in Paris in 2015, would have failed.
Based on existing data and models, it is estimated that Arctic ice (which is currently warming faster than the rest of the world) will melt during March over the next five years in the Barents Sea, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk, leading to more severe weather events in the northern hemisphere. A strong new El Niño event (a periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific, typically lasting between nine and twelve months) is also forecast for this winter, which could persist until 2027, pushing global temperatures to potentially record levels due to the warming of the Pacific Ocean.
Although the outlook is not good, both organisations warn that it is still possible to reverse the damage that such warming could cause to life on Earth if governments work together to commit to the fight against global warming.