For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest itB次元官网网址檚 ever been.

Meanwhile, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 environment commissioner says the country is still not on track to meet its commitments under the Paris climate agreement.

Ottawa has promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to be 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 but thus far they have only fallen seven per cent below 2005 levels.

In a report tabled today Jerry DeMarco says his office looked at 20 of the 149 measures from the governmentB次元官网网址檚 2030 Emission Reductions Plan progress report.

Only nine of those were on track, another nine were facing challenges, and the other two had significant barriers like delays in meeting milestones.

The latest report mirrors many of the findings and concerns DeMarco raised a year ago. However he found the government had moved on the majority of recommendations made in last yearB次元官网网址檚 report.

The report comes as, for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming compared to the pre-industrial average, the European climate agency Copernicus said Thursday.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 this relentless nature of the warming that I think is worrying,B次元官网网址� said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus.

Buontempo said the data clearly shows the planet would not see such a long sequence of record-breaking temperatures without the constant increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere driving global warming.

He cited that contribute to exceptionally warm years like last year and this one. They include El Nino B次元官网网址� the temporary warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide B次元官网网址� as well as volcanic eruptions that spew water vapor into the air and variations in energy from the sun. But he and other scientists say the long-term increase in temperatures beyond fluctuations like El Nino is a bad sign.

B次元官网网址淎 very strong El Nino event is a sneak peek into what the new normal will be about a decade from now,B次元官网网址� said Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist with the nonprofit Berkeley Earth.

B次元官网网址 of a likely second year of record heat comes a day after U.S. Republican Donald Trump, who has called climate change a B次元官网网址渉oaxB次元官网网址� and promised to boost oil drilling and production, . It also comes days before the next U.N. climate conference, called COP29, is set to begin in Azerbaijan. Talks are expected to focus on how to generate trillions of dollars to help the world transition to clean energies like wind and solar and avoid more warming.

Also on Thursday, called for increased funds to adapt to global heating and its consequences. It found that the $28 billion spent worldwide to adapt to climate change in 2022 B次元官网网址� the latest year the data is available B次元官网网址� is an all time high. But itB次元官网网址檚 still far short of the estimated $187 to $359 billion needed every year to deal with the heat, floods, droughts and storms exacerbated by climate change.

B次元官网网址淓arthB次元官网网址檚 ablaze,B次元官网网址� said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a pre-recorded statement marking the reportB次元官网网址檚 release. B次元官网网址淗umanityB次元官网网址檚 torching the planet and paying the priceB次元官网网址� with the vulnerable most affected, he said.

B次元官网网址淔rankly, there is no excuse for the world not to get serious about adaptation,B次元官网网址� said UNEPB次元官网网址檚 director Inger Andersen. B次元官网网址淲e need well-financed and effective adaptation that incorporates fairness and equity.B次元官网网址�

Buontempo pointed out that going over the 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) threshold of warming for a single year is different than the goal adopted in the 2015 Paris Agreement. That goal was meant to try to cap warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times on average, over 20 or 30 years.

said that since the mid-1800s on average, the world has already heated up 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) B次元官网网址� up from previous estimates of 1.1 degrees (2 degrees Fahrenheit) or 1.2 degrees (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit). ThatB次元官网网址檚 of concern because the U.N. says the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of the worldB次元官网网址檚 nations still arenB次元官网网址檛 nearly ambitious enough to keep the 1.5 degree Celsius target on track.

The target was chosen to try to stave off the worst effects of climate change on humanity, including extreme weather. B次元官网网址淭he heat waves, storm damage, and droughts that we are experiencing now are just the tip of the iceberg,B次元官网网址� said Natalie Mahowald, chair of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University.

Going over that number in 2024 doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean the overall trend line of global warming has, but B次元官网网址渋n the absence of concerted action, it soon will,B次元官网网址� said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann.

Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson put it in starker terms. B次元官网网址淚 think we have missed the 1.5 degree window,B次元官网网址� said Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who track countriesB次元官网网址� carbon dioxide emissions. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 too much warming.B次元官网网址�

Indiana state climatologist Beth Hall said she isnB次元官网网址檛 surprised by the latest report from Copernicus, but emphasized that people should remember climate is a global issue beyond their local experiences with changing weather. B次元官网网址淲e tend to be siloed in our own individual world,B次元官网网址� she said. Reports like this one B次元官网网址渁re taking into account lots and lots of locations that arenB次元官网网址檛 in our backyard.B次元官网网址�

Buontempo stressed the importance of global observations, bolstered by international cooperation, that allow scientists to have confidence in the new reportB次元官网网址檚 finding: Copernicus gets its results from billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.

He said that going over the 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) benchmark this year is B次元官网网址減sychologically importantB次元官网网址� as nations make decisions internally and approach negotiations at the annual U.N. climate change summit Nov. 11-22 in Azerbaijan.

B次元官网网址淭he decision, clearly, is ours. ItB次元官网网址檚 of each and every one of us. And itB次元官网网址檚 the decision of our society and our policymakers as a consequence of that,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏ut I believe these decisions are better made if they are based on evidence and facts.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址攚ith a file from Canadian Press