
The current global scenario
Globally, the 2015-2021 period has been the warmest on record. The global average temperature is +1.1°C higher than preindustrial levels, confirming the largest increase ever recorded in the last 100,000 years.
The 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change set 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels as the limit beyond which Earth’s ecosystems will deteriorate rapidly and irreversibly. However, under all scenarios examined, this limit is likely to be reached by 2040, leading to a +2.6°C increase in global temperature by the end of the century.
As stated by the 6th Assessment Report from IPCC’s Working Group 1, which analyses the physical science of climate change, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by human action – its economies and societies – are the unequivocal cause of climate change, directly accounting for a +1°C increase in global temperature, with an additional marginal effect of natural drivers (i.e. solar and volcanic activity) and internal variability.