The Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global warming below 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels was set to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Studies have shown that if the target is "missed", some of these impacts will still occur even if warming is reduced back below 1.5°C.
The study, led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and involving researchers from Imperial College London, shows that these impacts can be minimized if a 1.5°C excess is quickly reversed. . The results are published in Nature Communications. (Hayley Dunning, more at phys.org)