2023 could surpass the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C target for the first time. How will that affect climate talks? Month after record-breaking month, 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record. It was a year of extreme drought, deadly rainfall and scorching heat waves. Extreme temperatures reached underwater. Much of the Southern Hemisphere basked in summer-like weather during the winter, with temperatures reaching as far as Antarctica. Particularly notable is that 2023 could be the first time that global average temperatures have risen above the critical threshold, providing a glimpse into a world in which humanity is failing to get climate change under control. By the end of the year, some datasets could show that the Earth’s average temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than before the Industrial Revolution. That number—1.5°C—stands out because it was the limit set under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Nearly every country in the world agreed that humanity must keep warming this century “well below” 2°C, 3.6°F, above pre-industrial times, ideally limiting the increase to 1.5°C. (Umair Irfan)