Limiting Overshoot Report:
A new Limiting Overshoot report suggests the world will likely “overshoot”, or temporarily breach, the 1.5°C target of warming above preindustrial temperatures within the next few years.
- It is released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
- It has for the first time, set out an overshoot, peak and decline pathway, warning that breaching the 1.5°C global warming limit is now unavoidable.
- Key highlights of the Report:
- Even a scenario in which every country delivers on its national climate plan and net-zero target puts peak warming at 1.8°C
- According to the report, current policies point to a rise of about 2.6°C by 2100, with a range of 1.9–3.6°C.
- It warned that time spent above 1.5°C carries compounding costs such as faster sea-level rise, coral reef collapse, glacier loss exceeding a quarter of global mass by 2100, declines of up to 14% in global food production by 2050 without effective adaptation,
- Irreversible tipping points in the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the Amazon.
- It placed significant stress on methane and suggested that cutting it is described as the most effective way to slow warming in the near term.
