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It’s been making headlines: We have officially surpassed the 1.5°C limit set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2024 is now the warmest year on record, with global temperatures reaching approximately 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels.

In a press statement issued in January 2025, the WMO confirmed that “the global average surface temperature was 1.55°C (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.13 °C) above the 1850-1900 average.” The organization further noted that 2024 marked “the first calendar year with a global mean temperature exceeding 1.5°C.”

With this, UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged the stark reality: “We have just endured the hottest decade on record – with 2024 topping the list, and likely to be the first calendar year with a global mean temperature of more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

Despite this alarming milestone, Guterres called for urgent climate action, emphasizing the need for bold initiatives. “Governments must deliver new national climate action plans this year to limit long-term global temperature rise to 1.5°C, and support the most vulnerable deal with devastating climate impacts,” he stressed. “There's still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act – now.”

What does surpassing 1.5°C mean?

Exceeding this critical threshold carries significant consequences. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a breach of 1.5°C will intensify extreme weather events, including droughts, severe heatwaves, precipitation deficits, and flooding. Rising sea levels and heavy rainfall will also become more pronounced.

“Limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to 2°C is projected to reduce increases in ocean temperature as well as associated increases in ocean acidity and decreases in ocean oxygen levels (high confidence),” IPCC said in a statement. 

Staying within the limits, according to IPCC, can also “reduce risks to marine biodiversity, fisheries, and ecosystems, and their functions and services to humans.” The agency further warns that climate-related threats to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth will intensify at 1.5°C and escalate even further at 2°C.

Meanwhile, Science.org cautions that surpassing this benchmark could trigger multiple climate tipping points, including the collapse of major ocean circulation systems, abrupt thawing of boreal permafrost, and the destruction of tropical coral reefs.

Exceeding the 1.5°C limit doesn’t just mark a statistic—it’s a tipping point toward a more volatile and potentially irreversible climate crisis. The Paris Agreement was designed to prevent this scenario, yet the world is already at the brink. Its success depends on urgent, coordinated global action.

The challenge is immense, but the stakes are even higher. The question now is not just whether we can meet the Paris Agreement’s goals, but whether we can afford to fail.