Global heating will pass 1.5C threshold this year, top ex-Nasa scientist says

James Hansen says limit will be passed for all practical purposes' by May though other experts predict that will happen in 2030s

The internationally agreed threshold to prevent the Earth from spiraling into a new superheated era will be passed for all practical purposes" during 2024, the man known as the godfather of climate science has warned.

James Hansen, the former Nasa scientist credited for alerting the world to the dangers of climate change in the 1980s, said that global heating caused by the burning of fossil fuels, amplified by the naturally reoccurring El Nino climatic event, will by May push temperatures to as much as 1.7C (3F) above the average experienced before industrialization.