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- The Know Daily - Thursday 8 February 2024
The Know Daily - Thursday 8 February 2024
đ A global warming warning, Appleâs Vision Pro headset + the worldâs sexiest accent.
Read in 5m 24s â Listening to Dua Lipa â Share us to your socials âď¸
đ Global warming: New data has shown that the global mean temperature for the past 12 months exceeded 1.5C for the first time in history.
đ A visionary idea?: Appleâs much-anticipated Vision Pro headset has officially hit the shelves - but will the futuristic tech catch on?
đ Language of love: The worldâs sexiest accent has been revealed - and reports say âthe French wonât be happyâ.
Not only are otters seriously adorable, but theyâre also doing some very important conservation work in Californiaâs marshland. This is down to their âvoracious appetiteâ for striped shore crabs, which nibble away at the marshland, causing it to erode. Now, thanks to the ottersâ constant grazing, scientists feel more hopeful about the future of the landscape.
đ A global warming warning
The past year has been the hottest on record, with new data showing that the global mean temperature for the past 12 months exceeded 1.5C for the first time in history.
Tell me more.
According to the EUâs climate service, the period from February 2023 to January 2024 experienced 1.52C of warming on average.
This is in spite of more than 190 countries promising to try to limit the worldâs long-term temperature rise to 1.5C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, under the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.
What is the significance of the 1.5C figure?
Limiting the long-term temperature rise to 1.5C âis seen as crucial to help avoid the most damaging impacts [of climate change]â, said BBC News climate reporter Mark Poynting. A 2018 UN report found that extreme weather and other climate impacts are more likely to occur at 2C of warming than at 1.5C.
Although this first year-long breach doesnât constitute a breaking of the Paris Agreement (which refers to an average global temperature over a decade, rather than a 12-month period), âit does bring the world closer to doing so in the long-termâ, added Poynting.
What are experts suggesting?
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the EUâs Copernicus Climate Change Service, has called for ârapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissionsâ - describing that as âthe only way to stop global temperatures increasingâ.
Some scientists have urged governments to act faster to cut CO2 emissions.
Is there any coming back from this?
Yes - there is definitely still reason for hope. As Sky News pointed out, although breaching 1.5C is âalarmingâ, it doesnât mean the world has âpermanently surpassed the thresholdâ. âThe global average temperature would need to exceed 1.5C many more times before the climate can be said to have permanently warmed to that level,â the site added.
And, according to the BBCâs Poynting, many experts think that global warming will âmore or less stop once zero carbon emissions are reachedâ - meaning that if countries act quickly, we can ultimately âstill make a difference to the worldâs warming trajectoryâ.
đââď¸ TRIVIA TIME
In a recent poll, which US city was voted the worldâs worst city break destination?
A) Las Vegas
B) Washington DC
C) San Francisco
Scroll to the very bottom for the answer.
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