Earth’s Climate ‘Overshoot’ Is Coming Soon, UN Warns

Fossil fuel emissions are pushing the planet toward a dangerous climate “overshoot,” scientists warned on Wednesday in a new report from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). The report, titled *Limiting Overshoot*, projects that global temperatures will rise past the 1.5°C (2.7°F) threshold set by the Paris Agreement within the next few years. In climate science, “overshoot” means temporarily exceeding a set warming limit before temperatures later fall back down. The UNEP report warns that even a brief overshoot could trigger irreversible damage, such as melting polar ice and the collapse of coral reefs. The authors stress that cutting emissions now is the only way to shorten the overshoot period. They also call for rapid development of carbon removal technologies, though they note these tools are not yet proven at the scale needed. The report does not offer a single path to safety. Instead, it lays out several scenarios, all of which require immediate and deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Without such action, the UNEP warns, the world will not just cross the line—it may stay on the wrong side for decades.