'Grim milestone': Global temperatures breach 1.5C for record 12-month period

Michael Holder
clock • 4 min read
Credit: iStock
Image:

Credit: iStock

Latest EU climate data shows last month was the warmest January on record, as the planet experienced temperatures that were above 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for an entire year

The planet has for the first time experienced average temperatures above the totemic 1.5C threshold for an entire year, sparking fresh warnings from scientists that the world is perilously close to breaching...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

Michael Holder
Author spotlight

Michael Holder

Editor

View profile
More from Michael Holder

'Nature is a pre-requisite of prosperity': Can the government turn the tide for England's deteriorating natural world?

'This is transition politics at play': Is climate change shaping Trump's threats against Venezuela and Greenland?

More on Climate change

'A milestone none of us wished to reach': 1.5C threshold set to be breached, as 2025 confirmed as third hottest year on record
Climate change

'A milestone none of us wished to reach': 1.5C threshold set to be breached, as 2025 confirmed as third hottest year on record

Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms rising temperatures driven by human activity put world on course to exceed 1.5C threshold set under Paris Agreement

Amber Rolt
clock 14 January 2026 • 5 min read
Why Greenland is indispensable to global climate science
Climate change

Why Greenland is indispensable to global climate science

With no Antarctica-style treaty to protect Greenland, a US takeover could mean scientists lose access, writes Martin Siegert from the University of Exeter

Martin Siegert, University of Exeter.
clock 13 January 2026 • 5 min read
'Not just a climate phenomenon': El Niño-linked extreme weather could cost $35tr by 2100
Climate change

'Not just a climate phenomenon': El Niño-linked extreme weather could cost $35tr by 2100

Recurring El Niño events 'quietly chip away' at health gains, causing trillions of dollars in economic losses, new study warns

Stuart Stone
Stuart Stone
clock 12 January 2026 • 5 min read