Last Friday, November 17, the average air temperature on Earth for the first time rose above the critical threshold of +2°C relative to pre-industrial levels. In absolute numbers, the figure is +2.06°C. This was announced on the social network X (formerly Twitter) by Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (Copernicus).

According to scientists, on November 17 the temperature exceeded the 1991-2020 average by 1.17°C. As a result, this day became the hottest November 17th on record.

For now, scientists advise not to panic: the temperature rose above the critical threshold only for a short time, writes CNN. The world is not yet in a situation where it is extremely difficult or even impossible to influence climate change. In addition, the Copernicus data is preliminary; experts will need several weeks to confirm it.

But this “outburst,” according to Burgess, should be taken as a symptom of the fact that the planet is getting hotter and hotter.

Shortly before this, climatologists from the British University of Leeds also recorded record rates of warming – more than 0.2 °C for the period from 2013 to 2022. Researchers predict that Earth’s surface temperature could rise 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, pushing more than 2 billion people, or 22% of the world’s projected population, beyond the climate comfort zone.