BELEM, Brazil (AP) — After years of pushing the world to limit Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, climate leaders are starting to acknowledge that the target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement will almost surely be breached. But they’re not conceding defeat. They are hopeful that temperatures can eventually be brought back below that limit in a concept called “overshoot.” United Nations officials and scientists emphasize the importance of this goal. They warn of irreversible changes if the limit is breached permanently, including threats to coral reefs and ice sheets. The world is on track for significant warming, but efforts to reduce emissions and develop carbon removal technologies offer hope for the future.
By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press
Banner image: Indigenous peoples Samuel Pinedo, from left, Cline Jorge Chauca Lopez and Teresita Irene Antazu Lopez speak on fires and droughts in the Amazon at the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, in Belem, Brazil. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
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