Sep 6, 2026 · 6 min · 6 segments
Global warming will reach at least 1.8C, well beyond the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5C, the United Nations said, adding that every fraction of warming means climate impacts will intensify and compound…
Rebecca HendricksHostUnfortunately, this projection of 1.8 degrees Celsius is not the worst case scenario.
It's actually the best case scenario based on the rapid rate of climate change.
In the next few years, we will most likely overshoot the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set in 2015.
But what does that mean? We will link the UN's explainer on what is most important to know about overshoot and what it is, but put simply, just because we're exceeding the 1.5 degree limit does not mean that we can't bring the rise in global temperatures back down.
And even more importantly, it doesn't mean that we should give up on bringing temperatures as close to pre-industrial levels as possible, even lower than that 1.5 degree Celsius threshold.
1.8 degrees Celsius might not sound like a lot, but the UN says that the effects will be disastrous.
Higher heat means more heat-related deaths and illness, more crop loss throughout the world, major infrastructure damage, and loss of glaciers and ecosystems that creatures throughout our planet rely on.
This new report claims that it is not only necessary to cut the current rate of emissions, but also to start removing carbon from the atmosphere lingering from decades of extremely high emissions.
On Monday, a US federal judge struck down a law that required fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion in damage over 25 years for the effects of climate change.
This law was passed in New York State in 2024, and it was actually the second Superfund law to be passed in the States.
It would require companies that the state determined to be responsible for 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2018 to pay into this fund.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda Sands ruled that the Clean Air Act doesn't authorize states to create their own compensation plans for damage caused by carbon emissions.
Unfortunately, this projection of 1.8 degrees Celsius is not the worst case scenario.
It's actually the best case scenario based on the rapid rate of climate change.
In the next few years, we will most likely overshoot the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set in 2015.
But what does that mean? We will link the UN's explainer on what is most important to know about overshoot and what it is, but put simply, just because we're exceeding the 1.5 degree limit does not mean that we can't bring the rise in global temperatures back down.
And even more importantly, it doesn't mean that we should give up on bringing temperatures as close to pre-industrial levels as possible, even lower than that 1.5 degree Celsius threshold.
1.8 degrees Celsius might not sound like a lot, but the UN says that the effects will be disastrous.
Higher heat means more heat-related deaths and illness, more crop loss throughout the world, major infrastructure damage, and loss of glaciers and ecosystems that creatures throughout our planet rely on.
This new report claims that it is not only necessary to cut the current rate of emissions, but also to start removing carbon from the atmosphere lingering from decades of extremely high emissions.
On Monday, a US federal judge struck down a law that required fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion in damage over 25 years for the effects of climate change.
This law was passed in New York State in 2024, and it was actually the second Superfund law to be passed in the States.
It would require companies that the state determined to be responsible for 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2018 to pay into this fund.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda Sands ruled that the Clean Air Act doesn't authorize states to create their own compensation plans for damage caused by carbon emissions.
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