Annual Average Temperatures Aren’t the Best Climate Change Indicator
On May 10, 2022, the World Meteorological Organization issued a report citing a 50:50 chance that the global annual mean temperature could reach 1.5°C within the next five years. The goal that most of the world had agreed upon was to keep global warming under a threshold of 1.5°C by 2100. Still, a blip over 1.5°C in a single year does not mean the world has failed in its climate goals.
Host Ethan Brown explains why year-to-year average temperatures are not the measuring stick for climate change — and how the WMO’s report makes the distinction — in this week’s “Tip of the Iceberg.”
For more information, see the companion “Tip of the Iceberg” essay here.
