CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The Earth’s surface temperature has already increased by nearly 1.2C compared with the average in 1850–1900 and we are perfectly on track to reach the much feared 1.5C threshold between 2026 and 2042 in a scenario where emissions are not rapidly reduced.

Detailed explanation-2: -Current warming is  1.1°C above preindustrial and even with rapid emission cuts warming will reach  1.5°C by the 2030s (23). We cannot rule out that WAIS and GrIS tipping points have already been passed (see above) and several other tipping elements have minimum threshold values within the 1.1 to 1.5°C range.

Detailed explanation-3: -Antarctica has lost 2720 ± 1390 gigatons of ice during the period from 1992 to 2017, and extrapolated predictions are that in year 2100 the sea level will rise by 25 cm just from the water bound in ice in Antarctica.

Detailed explanation-4: -The 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold became prominent in 2010, and it has since been considered the upper limit of warming Earth can endure before the effects, specifically those of triggered tipping points, become irreversible.