There has never been a better time to break free from fossil fuels. Record-breaking global temperatures, plummeting fossil fuel prices, historic investments in renewable energy and global pressure to honor climate pledges are all coming together to create the ideal setting for this world-changing shift.
The shift could not be more urgent. The United Nations climate agreement forged in Paris last December reconfirmed the level of 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels as a hard upper limit for global warming, beyond which the consequences for the planet become catastrophic. But it also included commitments to "pursue efforts" to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Judging by the latest data published by NASA, achieving that lower limit should be viewed as an imperative.
The new data confirm that 2015 was the hottest year on record and show that the global run of record-breaking temperatures continued through the first two months of this year. According to NASA, global temperatures in February were 1.35 degrees above average, based on a 1951-1980 baseline.