While El Nino and other effects have played a role in the recent unprecedented heat, scientists insist that the greenhouse gas emissions that humans continue to pump into the atmosphere are the main culprit.
The UN's IPCC climate panel has warned that the world is likely to fall within 1.5C of warming by the early 2030s. Planet-heating emissions, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, are rising while scientists say they need to be cut by about half this decade.
At UN climate talks in Dubai last year, countries agreed to triple global renewable capacity this decade and “move away” from fossil fuels. But the deal lacked key details, now putting pressure on governments to strengthen their climate commitments in the short term and beyond 2030.
“We know what to do – stop burning fossil fuels and replace them with more sustainable, renewable sources of energy,” said Frederick Otto of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London.
“Unless we do this, extreme weather events caused by climate change will continue to destroy lives and livelihoods.”