The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in France in 2015. Its aim is to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed that global temperatures in 2024 exceeded 1.6°C, making it the hottest year on record. This assessment drew on datasets from scientists in the UK, US, Japan and the EU.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that surpassing 1.5°C increases the risk of severe climate impacts, including more frequent droughts, heatwaves and intense rainfall. Global warming refers to the long-term rise in Earth’s average temperature and the resulting changes to the climate system. Greenhouse gases trap solar heat, warming the surface by day and slowing heat loss at night.
Human activities, particularly burning fossil fuels and deforestation, have sharply increased atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past century. Higher concentrations retain more heat, driving warming and intensifying droughts, storms, heatwaves, sea-level rise, glacier melt and ocean warming.
The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan 2026–2040, published in 2025, sets out long-term goals through a five-year carbon budget framework, with statutory limits on greenhouse gas emissions averaged over five-year periods.
These budgets aim for emissions to be roughly 57 % lower than 1990 levels over 2026–2030, with further reductions (to about 69 %, 80 % and 94 %) in subsequent five-year periods up to 2045, supporting Scotland’s net-zero target by 2045.
Some key events in the history of Global Warming:
1938: Amateur scientist Guy Callendar’ discovers proof that global temperatures are rising 1940: Global average temperature is 0.035°C 1958: Dr Charles David Keeling provides the first evidence that CO2 levels are rising 1967: Scientists create the first computer model of Earth's changing climate 1968: Dr John Mercer predicts melting ice caps 1985: British Antarctic Survey Scientists, Dr Joe Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jon Shanklin discover Ozone hole over South Pole 1988: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is established 1994: The first climate change legislation is passed 1997: The Kyoto Protocol is adopted, the first treaty to legally bind countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 1998: Hurricane Mitch - One of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in history, due to it's intensity was linked to unusually warm sea surface temperatures 2003: 20,000 people died after a record-breaking heatwave in Europe 2007: The Arctic warms twice as fast as the rest of the planet 2007: Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh killed 4,324 people 2008: Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar killed 138,366 people 2010: Drought in Somalia: Climate change made the low rainfall more likely and intense, and rising temperatures made the drought worse. This drought killed an estimated 258,000 people. 2010: Heatwave in Russia - A persistent heatwave caused record temperatures, widespread wildfires, and 56,000 deaths. 2013: Typhoon Haiyan - One of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan’s intensity was fuelled by abnormally warm ocean waters in the Pacific 2015: The Paris Agreement is adopted by nearly 200 countries 2015: Hurricane Season (Harvey, Irma, Maira) -Warm sea surface temperatures intensified these hurricanes, which caused catastrophic flooding and damage 2015: Heatwave in France killed 3,275 people 2019: The UK becomes the first country to pass a net zero emissions law 2019: The global average temperature was 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, making it likely the second or third warmest year on record. 2020: Cyclone Amphan was the strongest storm ever to hit the Bay of Bengal 2020: The average temperature for the decade 2011–2020 was the warmest on record, with a temperature 1.48°F above the 20th century average 2022 and 2023: Heatwaves in Europe, climate change made the high temperatures in these heatwaves more likely. In 2022, 53,542 people died, and in 2023, 37,129 people died. 2023: The average surface temperature was the warmest on record since 1880 2024: The global temperature was more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for 11 months of the year. The combined average temperature for 2023 and 2024 is 1.54°C above pre-industrial levels
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SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT //
Stepping up action to net zero https://www.gov.scot/news/stepping-up-action-to-net-zero/#:~:text=In%20light%20of%20the%20UK,plant%2C%20workforce%20and%20local%20community
United Nations: Secretary-General's Statement on Official Confirmation of 2024 as the Hottest Year www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2025-01-10/secretary-generals-statement-official-confirmation-of-2024-the-hottest-year#:~:text=Today's%20assessment%20from%20the%20World,C%20above%20pre%2Dindustrial%20levels