FOR THE first generation of the 21st century-Generation Alpha-it is an inheritance of profound loss. For their predecessors, climate change was an unfolding planetary emergency. But Generation Alpha-which will comprise an estimated 2 billion people by 2025, making it the largest generation in history is enduring a climatologically changed, warmer planet.
The year 2024 may be the point that divides the pre- and post-climate change eras. In mid-November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) stated with certainty that 2024 would be the hottest year since the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), and the first to cross the warming threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. "This marks a new milestone in global temperature," says Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, which has analysed temperature trends of the first 10 months of 2024.
This story is from the December 01, 2024 edition of Down To Earth.
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This story is from the December 01, 2024 edition of Down To Earth.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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