• The UN predicts a 70% chance average warming will exceed 1.5°C from 2025 to 2029.
• There is an 80% chance of breaking annual temperature records in the next five years.
• Climate scientists warn of an increasingly severe impact from rising temperatures, including extreme weather events.

The United Nations has stated there's a 70% chance that average warming will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius from 2025 to 2029, marking significant climatic shifts after the two hottest years on record, 2023 and 2024. This information was released in a comprehensive annual climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UK Meteorological Office, underlining that the world is expected to remain at historic warming levels.

Experts emphasize that following ten consecutive years of record warmth, the situation is alarming, with WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett stating, “Unfortunately, this WMO report provides no sign of respite over the coming years, resulting in a negative impact on our economies, daily lives, ecosystems, and the planet,” according to Le Monde and India Times.

Forecasts indicate an 80% chance of breaking annual temperature records in the next five years, with increasing feasibility of surpassing the critical 1.5°C limit established in the 2015 Paris Agreement. There is also a 86% chance that at least one year between 2025 and 2029 will experience temperatures above this threshold. The report cited projections in which the global mean near-surface temperature could average between 1.2°C and 1.9°C above pre-industrial levels during this period, according to Channel News Asia and CBS News.

Citing current statistics, the world is approximately 1.4 degrees Celsius hotter than in the mid-1800s. Furthermore, a notable chance exists—albeit slight—that one of the next five years may even surpass a 2°C increase compared to pre-industrial levels. Scientific experts are sounding caution that many current climate conditions could become the new normal, as increasing temperatures lead to an escalation in extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, and intense hurricanes, stated HuffPost and Africanews.

The report further indicated that ice in the Arctic is warming at a rate of approximately 3.5 times faster than the rest of the globe, heralding severe consequences for sea levels and climate patterns worldwide, as emphasized by WMO officials, including researcher Chris Hewitt, according to Dawn and India Times.