The Hottest Year in Record and What Sea Sponge Tells Us About Climate Change

Abstract

Across the globe, we are witnessing the impact of a changing climate. More frequent and intense hurricanes, devastating atmospheric rivers and winter storms, wildfires, heat waves and droughts, are taking their toll on our daily lives and economic well-being. The goal of the Paris Accord adopted in 2015, was to limit the increase in average global temperature—the combined average of surface ocean and land warming—to 1.5 degrees Celsius (C) (or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. However, a new peer-reviewed scientific study released in the Natural Climate Change Journal reveals some startling data. The world passed the 1.5 degree benchmark in 2020, meaning we are two decades ahead of the pace of global warming projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).¹ The findings raise significant questions out our ability to meet the Accord's goals, or whether the average global temperature has or will exceed the Accord's goal of keeping global warming to below 2 degrees. Research evidence of the extent of warming came from studying an unlikely specimen; centuries-old sponges living in the Caribbean Sea.