Living in a country where we often see temperature swings of 10°C to 20°C from one day to the next, 1.5°C sounds insignificant. In this month’s lead post for the Climate Change Collective, Molly from Transatlantic Notes provides a comprehensive look at the 1.5°C global warming target and how surpassing it affects us all.

How surpassing the 1.5°C global warming target impacts us all

Here in Canada, we often see temperature swings of 10°C to 20°C from one day to the next. To many people, the 1.5°C target for global warming may seem insignificant. But the fact that 2024 was the first year where the average global temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.5°C is a cause for concern.

In this month’s lead post for the Climate Change Collective, Molly from Transatlantic Notes provides a comprehensive look at the history of the 1.5°C target that emerged from the 2015 Paris Agreement. Further, she considers the implications of surpassing the 1.5°C global warming target for the planet and all its inhabitants. The list of reasons to be concerned is long—including extreme weather, rising sea levels, wildfires, water scarcity, economic disruption, human health concerns, and biodiversity loss.

Molly wraps up her post with a list of important initiatives that will help protect the planet and ways we, as individuals, can take climate action to encourage the systemic change that is necessary to address the impacts of human activity on the planet.

No matter how sustainable the choices we make for ourselves and our households, without environmental reform at political, systemic, and industrial levels, our ability to create meaningful change is severely limited.

Molly, Transatlantic Notes

Global Warming: What Surpassing 1.5°C Means for the Planet

Change is inconvenient, but necessary

The 1.5°C global warming target is not arbitrary. It’s backed by science and research. That’s why it’s alarming that uninformed politicians and self-interested corporations feel they can deny its relevance and arbitrarily cancel support for green initiatives, thus rolling back our progress on fighting climate change.

The constant cry of “Make America Great Again” (and the similar rhetoric spouted by Canada’s right-wing parties) reminds me of the Bruce Springsteen song Glory Days. It’s about denying reality and living in a fairy-tale version of the past. If these people were serious about a return to the “good old days”, they’d be calling for people to reduce their consumption, shop local, buy smaller homes, and take vacations closer to home.

Make no mistake! What they really want is to continue leading their privileged lifestyle, while denying the implications for future generations and the less privileged. But there are dire consequences for all of us if we pause or roll back the progress we’ve made. We must continue the fight.

Please take the time to read Molly’s post and consider ways you can add your voice to the climate action conversation. The need to act is urgent.

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

About the Climate Change Collective

The Climate Change Collective started after I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone, so I put out a tweet to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!

The members of the collective take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the post is published, the rest of the group keeps the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.

If you’re a like-minded blogger and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. More voices joining the conversation means more attention to the problems plaguing our planet!

More Climate Change Collective posts

The Climate Change Collective series has been going strong for over two years. See Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.

Recent posts in the series

• Is Climate Change Overlooked in Schools? – Jamie Ad Stories
• Highlighting Useful Ways to be Sustainable This Winter – Transatlantic Notes
• Carrot or stick? Which works better to reduce our environmental footprint? – Boomer Eco Crusader
• Why Food Waste is a Big Deal and How to Prevent It – A Sustainably Simple Life

Thanks to Molly for being part of our Climate Change Collective and for providing an insightful and comprehensive look at the implications of surpassing the 1.5°C global warming target.

What are your ideas on how we can fight back against those who deny climate change? Tell me your thoughts below.