UN report says world is racing to well past warming limit as carbon emissions rise instead of plunge

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

A new United Nations report calculates that the globe is speeding to 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.5 to 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming since pre-industrial times, set to blow well past the agreed upon international climate threshold. Monday’s Emissions Gap report from the United Nations Environment Programme says to have an even money shot at keeping warming to the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) limit adopted by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, countries have to slash their emissions by 42% by the end of the decade. But carbon emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas rose 1.2% last year.