Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Forensics
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Midwest warmup arrives but spring struggles to take hold in the Northeast. See the forecast. Chevron right

Columbus, OH

40°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

40°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
Create Your Account Unlock extended daily and hourly forecasts — all with your free account.
Let's Go Chevron right
Have an account already? Log In
settings
Help
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly 10-Day Radar MinuteCast® Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Forensics

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

Top Stories Severe Weather Hurricane Center Astronomy Climate Recreation Trending Today Health In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars
Frost Advisory

News / Climate

A dire forecast: Scientists used AI to find planet could cross critical warming threshold sooner than expected

Data show the average global temperature has already risen around 34 degrees F since industrialization.

By Christian Edwards, CNN

Published Jan 30, 2023 6:57 PM EDT | Updated Jan 30, 2023 6:58 PM EDT

Copied

The planet could cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold in a decade. (Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

(CNN) -- The planet could cross critical global warming thresholds sooner than previous models have predicted, even with concerted global climate action, according to a new study using machine learning.

The study estimates that the planet could reach 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming above pre-industrial levels in a decade, and found a "substantial possibility" of global temperature rises crossing the 2-degree threshold by mid-century, even with significant global efforts to bring down planet-warming pollution.

Data show average global temperature has already risen around 1.1 to 1.2 degrees C since industrialization.

"Our results provide further evidence for high-impact climate change, over the next three decades," noted the report, published on Monday in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, countries have pledged to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees -- and preferably to 1.5 degrees -- compared to pre-industrial levels.

Scientists have identified 1.5 degrees of warming as a key tipping point beyond which the chances of extreme flooding, drought, wildfires and food shortages will increase dramatically.

Temperature rises over 2 degrees could bring catastrophic and potentially irreversible impacts, including pushing three billion people into "chronic water scarcity."

The study used artificial neural networks -- a type of machine learning or artificial intelligence -- which scientists trained on climate models and then used historical observations of temperature around the world "as independent input from which the AI makes a prediction," said Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor at Stanford University and a co-author on the study.

Diffenbaugh and his co-author Elizabeth Barnes, a professor at Colorado State University, assessed three different scenarios: Low, medium and high "forcing" climate pathways, which refer to the intensity of the heating caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The planet may cross the 35-degree F threshold sooner than we thought. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

In all three scenarios, the scientists estimated that the world would hit 1.5 degrees of warming between 2033 and 2035, even if planet-warming pollution is substantially reduced.

Diffenbaugh said that while "individual years are likely to reach 1.5 degrees sooner," their predictions "are focused on how long until the global mean temperature was warmed 1.5 degrees."

The study's prediction is in line with previous models. In a major report published in 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that the world could cross the 1.5-degree threshold "in the early 2030s."

Where the study departs from many current projections is in its estimates of when the world will cross the 2-degree (35.6 F) threshold.

While the IPCC projects that in a low emissions scenario, global temperature rises are unlikely to hit 2 degrees (35.6 F) by the end of the century, the study returned more concerning results.

The AI predicted a probability of around 80% that 2 degrees warming will be reached before 2065, even if, over the next half century, the world reaches net-zero -- where it removes at least as much planet-warming pollution from the atmosphere as it emits.

If emissions stay high, Diffenbaugh said, the AI predicted a 50% probability that 2 degrees will be reached before 2050.

There is "clear evidence that a half degree of global warming poses substantial risks for people and ecosystems. Hence, the greater the global warming, the greater the challenges for adaptation," Diffenbaugh said.

While many net zero decarbonization pledges and targets have been framed around holding global warming to 1.5 degrees, he added: "The AI predictions in our study suggest that those may be necessary to avoid 2 degrees."

The use of machine learning to make predictions is increasing in climate science, Diffenbaugh said.

"The AI is able to learn the most reliable indicators of how long is left until a given global warming level is reached in a large number of sometimes contradictory climate model predictions."

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

READ MORE HERE:

Drone shows spectacular view of ghost town frozen in time
Iceberg roughly the size of London breaks off in Antarctica
The Doomsday Clock reveals how close we are to total annihilation
Report: Temperatures on Greenland are warmest in at least 1,000 years
Report a Typo

Weather News

Winter Weather

Late-season storm to drench Northern California, bring Sierra snow

Apr. 21, 2026
Weather Forecasts

Drought to boost wildfire risk in eastern, central and western US

Apr. 21, 2026
Severe Weather

1st lightning death of 2026 reported after Wisconsin storm

Apr. 17, 2026
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

Top Stories

Severe Weather

Hurricane Center

Astronomy

Climate

Recreation

Trending Today

Health

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather Forecasts

Spring split: Midwest enjoys 70s and 80s while Northeast battles cold

55 minutes ago

Weather News

7.4 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan, tsunami warnings issued

21 hours ago

Severe Weather

Illinois leads nation in tornado, hail and wind reports so far in 2026

13 hours ago

Winter Weather

Late-season storm to drench Northern California, bring Sierra snow

51 minutes ago

Severe Weather

Renewed risk for severe thunderstorms across the Plains

59 minutes ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Severe Weather

See it: Oklahoma couple jumps into shelter seconds before tornado hits

14 hours ago

Astronomy

Lyrids 2026: How to see the 1st meteor shower since January

1 day ago

Recreation

Hiker dies after fall from angels landing trail at Zion National Park

18 hours ago

Weather News

7-month-old dies after being found in hot car in Tennessee

3 days ago

Weather News

114 years later: How weather helped seal the Titanic’s fate

5 days ago

AccuWeather Climate A dire forecast: Scientists used AI to find planet could cross critical warming threshold sooner than expected
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy™ About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy™ About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2026 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information | Data Sources

...

...

...