The rate of global warming has accelerated at a higher level since 2015 than in any decade since records began in 1880, according to a new study that removes the background "noise" of natural fluctuations. However, not everyone agrees with the paper's findings. In the study, published Friday (March 6) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers used statistical evidence to demonstrate accelerated warming in the past decade, which they say is the first time that scientists have identified the "statistically significant acceleration of global warming" since 2015. "The warming trend nearly doubled after 2014," study co-author Stefan Rahmstorf, head of Earth system analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, told Live Science in an email. "The acceleration of the global warming rate means we will cross the 1.5°C [2.7 degrees Fahrenheit] limit earlier," he said, adding that they were surprised by the drastic surge.
