Earth briefly passed a critical warming threshold this past weekend. According to data from ERA5, the European Centre for Medium-ange Weather Forecasts’ (ECMWF) fifth generation reanalysis of the global climate from 1940 to the present, 17 November 2023 was the first day in which the global temperature exceeded 2°C above pre-industrial levels. These latest figures put Earth’s rising temperatures into sharp focus ahead of COP28, which is set to start in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 30 November. Let’s take a closer look at what the ERA5 data shows.