Increased warming closing in on agreed limit, says UN report

An air tanker drops fire retardant on a hillside wildfire in Yucaipa, California (AP/Ringo HW Chiu)

The world is getting closer to passing a temperature limit set by global leaders five years ago and may exceed it in the next decade, according to a United Nations report.

In the next five years, the world has nearly a one-in-four chance of experiencing a year that is hot enough to put the global temperature at 1.5C above pre-industrial times, according to a new science update released by the UN, World Meteorological Organisation and other global science groups.