UN agency predicts 1.5C target limit likely to be surpassed by 2028

Climate warning (Charlie Riedel/AP)

The UN weather agency is predicting an 80% chance that average global temperatures will surpass the 1.5C target laid out in the landmark Paris climate accord within the next five years.

The World Meteorological Organisation said on Wednesday that the global mean near-surface temperature for each year from 2024 to 2028 is expected to range between 1.1C and 1.9C hotter than at the start of the industrial era.