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Earth is warming. Globally, 2020 was the second-warmest year on record, with a mean temperature 1.2°C above the pre-industrial average. By that measure, this means we are already four-fifths of the way to the 1.5°C "safe" level to which the world committed to try to limit global warming. The culprits are carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and land use changes that reduce Earth's ability to draw down greenhouse gases. The results are already being felt, not just through rising temperatures, but also through loss of ice cover, rising sea levels and more extreme droughts, floods and storms across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the impact of a 1.5°C rise in world temperatures, based on the Paris Accords of 2015 which deemed that level of rising temperature as safe. Topics include the current rise in temperature of 1°C, the current predicted rise of temperature by .1°C per decade, how temperatures range fluctuate throughout the globe from the arctic regions to the tropics, heatwaves, heat-stress, drought and too much rain, and sea level rise.

At last, the public is calling for urgent action, and politicians are falling over themselves to get on board, says Adam Vaughan [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]