Temperatures worldwide expected to exceed 1.5 Celsius 'within a few years' — UNEP

SINGAPORE - Global temperature rises are set to exceed the key threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) "within a few years", the UN's environmental body said on Wednesday, creating more extreme weather and intensifying pressure on ecosystems, glaciers and low-lying coastal cities.

The United Nations Environment Programme said bringing temperature rises back to below 1.5C was "possible but highly uncertain," and would require rapid emission cuts as well as interventions to remove carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.

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Under the 2015 Paris Agreement governments committed to keeping temperature rises within 1.5C to limit the impacts of extreme weather.

With "overshoot" now extremely likely, countries now need to focus on limiting how long temperatures remain above 1.5C, UNEP said in a report.

"Every year of delay and every fraction of a degree above 1.5C increases risks and makes recovery harder, with irreversible losses possible even if temperatures later decline," it said.

The most optimistic scenario will see temperature rises peak at 1.8C above pre-industrial levels if all existing national pledges are implemented, but it is likely to be much higher, the report added.

"Under current policies, median projected global warming reaches around 2.6C by 2100," it said.

It said carbon dioxide removal (CDR) measures - including planting new forests - would be "critical" to control rising temperatures, but they would be no replacement for deep cuts in current emission levels.

(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Kate Mayberry)