A night view reveals the venue of the United Nations climate change conference, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 11, 2024. – Reuters

This year's U.N. climate summit - COP29 - is taking place during another year of record-breaking global temperatures, intensifying the pressure on negotiations aimed at curbing climate change. The last global scientific consensus on climate change was released in 2021 through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but scientists warn that evidence shows global warming and its impacts are occurring faster than anticipated. Here are some recent climate research findings:

1.5C BREACHED? Scientists suggest the world may have already reached 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 F) of warming above the average pre-industrial temperature, a critical threshold beyond which irreversible and extreme climate change is at risk. A study released on Monday, based on an analysis of 2,000 years of atmospheric gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores, suggests a longer pre-industrial baseline, extending from the year 13 to 1700. This new data, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, indicates that 2024 is set to be the warmest year on record.

SUPERCHARGED HURRICANES Ocean warming is not only powering stronger Atlantic storms but also causing them to intensify more rapidly. For instance, Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico in October went from a tropical storm to the Gulf's second-most powerful hurricane on record within a day, devastating Florida's west coast. Warmer air holds more moisture, aiding storms in carrying and releasing more rain, leading to flooding even in mountain towns like Asheville, North Carolina, which was inundated by Hurricane Helene in September.

WILDFIRE DEATHS Global warming is drying waterways and depleting moisture from forests, fostering conditions for larger and hotter wildfires. Research published in Nature Climate Change last month calculated that about 13% of deaths associated with toxic wildfire smoke, roughly 12,000 deaths, during the 2010s could be attributed to climate effects on wildfires.

CORAL BLEACHING The world is experiencing its fourth mass coral bleaching event, the largest on record, raising fears that global reefs may have passed a point of no return. Scientists will monitor bleached reefs from Australia to Brazil over the next few years to assess recovery if temperatures decline.

AMAZON ALARM Brazil's Amazon is suffering its worst and most widespread drought since records began in 1950. River levels have plummeted to all-time lows, and fires have ravaged the rainforest. This adds to concerns that between 10% and 47% of the Amazon could face combined stresses of heat, drought, and other threats by 2050, potentially pushing the Amazon past a tipping point where it can no longer sustain itself, transitioning to degraded forests or sandy savannas.

VOLCANIC SURGE Scientists fear climate change could enhance volcanic eruptions. In Iceland, volcanoes seem to be responding to rapid glacier retreat. As ice melts, less pressure is exerted on the Earth's crust and mantle, potentially destabilizing magma reservoirs and leading to more magma formation, building up pressure underground. About 245 volcanoes worldwide lie under or near ice and could be at risk.

OCEAN SLOWDOWN The warming of the Atlantic could accelerate the collapse of a key current system, which scientists warn could already be faltering. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which transports warm water from the tropics to the North Atlantic, has helped keep European winters milder for centuries. Research indicates that AMOC has weakened by about 15% since 1950, and a study published in Science Advances in February suggests it could be closer to a critical slowdown than previously thought.

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