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 when I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep environmental issues top of mind for everyone, so I posted on social media to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!
For over three years, the members our group took turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the lead post was published, the rest of the group kept the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.
More Climate Change Collective posts
Check out Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.
Latest posts in the series
- Meet the Climate Change Collective members and learn about the topics we covered in year three in Celebrating 3 Years of Climate Change Awareness and Environmental Education.
- Food storage tips that will reduce waste and save you money
- Racing Towards Green: How Formula 1 is Embracing Sustainability
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.
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You’re so right that 1.5 degrees doesn’t seem like much on the surface, but as a global average that’s really scary. With changing governments and the lack of concern for environmental issues from some parties, I’m concerned about how much higher that average temperature will go. We live in some stressful times.
Yes! I’m even more concerned since I heard Trump ordered government agencies to remove reference to climate change from their websites. 🙁
You hit the nail on the head when you said that many people probably see the 1.5°C increase as small/insignificant. I think this plays into the hands of climate change deniers and makes there messaging seem sensible. I hope people begin to realize that this temperature rise is a significant shift for your planet.
I hope so too, Molly. And I fear the misinformation and denial will only get worse in the current political climate.
Thank you for writing this! I think a large number of people look at that 1.5 and say “so what- that won’t matter”. But it sure does….
It does seem insignificant on the surface, but it’s definitely an alarming trend that has broad implications for all of us. Thanks for reading and commenting, Todd!
Thank you for highlighting Molly’s post, Michelle! ❤️
It was such a thorough and well-researched piece…but Molly’s posts always are! 🤗