A growing collection of scientific studies is zeroing in on a startling conclusion: Global warming is speeding up. That means the planet is hurtling toward the Paris Agreement’s international climate targets at a growing clip, while consequences around the globe are accelerating.
A study released Friday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters is the latest to hammer the point home. Global temperatures rose by 0.35 degree Celsius over the past 10 years, the research finds, compared with an average of 0.2 C each decade between 1970 and 2015.
That makes the past decade the fastest warming 10-year span since record-keeping began in the 19th century.
“We can now demonstrate a strong and statistically significant acceleration of global warming since around 2015,” said Grant Foster, a statistics expert and co-author of the paper, in a statement.
