Rising emissions and temperatures: The cost of Trump's climate retreat is now clear

For over a decade, scientists have warned the world must limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) to avoid the most severe consequences of climate change . Decades of "insufficient" action on cutting the fossil fuel emissions heating the planet means overshooting 1.5-degree temperature threshold is now "imminent and unavoidable," according to the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) annual Emissions Gap Report. If current climate policies continue, temperatures will rise by an average of 2.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels within this century. But even if countries meet their new climate pledges, global warming is still projected to reach 2.6 degrees Celsius.