Tipping Point | The Paris Agreement: countdown to 1.5°C | Climate change

"Tipping Point" is a weekly series where we dive into climate change events and the trends shaping our future.

We begin with one of the most talked-about topics in climate discourse—the Paris Agreement. We've all heard about it, but what does it really mean?

In 2015, world leaders gathered in Paris for the 21st United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties, also known as COP21. At the end of this conference, they adopted a legally binding agreement to limit global warming to "well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels," with efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Let's break that down.

"Pre-industrial levels" refer to the period between 1850 and 1900, when humans began systematically recording temperatures. This period serves as a baseline to track how much the Earth has warmed. During this time, industries reliant on coal and gas were emerging, leading to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn fueled global warming.

The Paris Agreement sets 2 degrees Celsius as the upper limit for global temperature rise, with 1.5 degrees Celsius being a more ambitious and desirable target to mitigate the effects of global warming.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body, Earth's surface temperature is currently rising by about 0.2°C per decade. Global warming, driven by human activities, reached 1°C above pre-industrial levels around 2017. If this trend continues, we could hit the 1.5°C mark by 2040.

We also look at the impact of climate change and the latest extreme weather events. On the positive side, we look at a solar energy plant at a hospital in Nagpur, operated by Suntria Energy.  The Hindu spoke with Kedar Sathe, a partner at Suntria Energy overseeing the hospital project. 

Presentation: Priyali Prakash
Video: Sabika Syed
Production: Shikha Kumari

#climatechange #climate #climatecrisis

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