In 2021, the United Nations calculated that remaining carbon budget (RCB), i.e. the amount of carbon we can still emit before exceeding the 1.5°C temperature increase limit set by the Paris Agreement, is 500 billion tonnes, making the “point of no return” in 2032. According to a new study that appeared in in the journal Nature , in fact Rcb at the beginning of 2023 it was only 250 billion tons, which, considering that about 40 billion tons are emitted annually worldwide (a figure that is increasing, among other things), would bring the deadline dangerously close to 2029.  A research team led by Robin D. Lamboll from Imperial College London  updated the RCB calculation models by including additional complexity factors that could affect the increase in Earth's temperature , and in particular, separated the real role played by CO2 from that of other greenhouse gases, whose residual emissions may continue to increase temperatures even if net CO2 emissions reach zero. (Elena Esposto)