The world is about to experience its hottest year yet and may likely surpass 1.5C of warming, UN warns: “There’s no return”

The deadly heat waves that have gripped nations in recent years are likely about to get much worse. On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization announced that data and models show the planet is on track to have its hottest year ever for at least one of the next five years – and that the planet will likely surpass a major climate change threshold. 

The last global heat record was reached in 2016 during El Niño, a climate pattern that naturally occurs every few years when Pacific Ocean surface temperatures warm. After that period, El Niño’s counter, La Niña, occurred, allowing ocean surface temperatures to cool. But just days ago, NOAA announced that El Niño is about to make its comeback. 

“It’s practically sure that we will see the warmest year on record in the coming five years once this La Niña phase is over,” Petteri Taalas, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General, said during a U.N.  press conference on Wednesday, citing data and modeling from 18 global research centers that indicates a 98% likelihood. He said that the record will be due to a combination of the climate pattern and climate change. 

This record will likely come as the world also surpasses a major and daunting milestone. 

“There’s a 66% chance that we would exceed 1.5 degrees during the coming five years,” Taalas said, pointing to global temperatures compared to pre-industrial times. “And there’s a 33% probability that we will see the whole coming five years exceeding that threshold.” 

At that threshold, most areas on land will experience hotter days, with roughly 14% of the planet’s population “exposed to severe heatwaves “at least once every five years,” according to NASA. The U.N. has also warned that at this amount of global warming, precipitation and droughts will both be more frequent and intense, and that there will be far greater risks related to energy, food and water. 

Indonesia, the Amazon and Central America will likely see less rainfall already this year, Taalas said, while Europe, Alaska and northern Siberia are expected to have…