, in Paris, the nations of the world committed themselves to trying their best to prevent the planet warming by more than 1.5°C from its pre-industrial state. Even at the time, the goal looked ambitious. In recent years, it has come to seem almost impossible.
Optimists point out even if the 1.5°C threshold is exceeded, it will only be temporary, and the Paris agreement will not technically be breached—yet. The rise will be temporary because for the next few years the rising level of human-driven warming will be amplified further by natural, but transient, changes.
Some tentatively encouraging signs gleam amid the gloom. Global emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels seem to have gone sideways for several years, leading some researchers to speak cautiously of a possible peak. RystadEnergy, a Norwegian think-tank, predicted earlier this year that global emissions of carbon dioxide from industry could peak in 2025 and then begin a slow decline.