UN: World hurtling to climate danger zone

Temperatures on Earth will shoot past a key danger point unless greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than countries have committed, the world's top body of climate scientists said Monday, warning of the consequences of inaction but also noting hopeful signs of progress.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed a litany of broken climate promises by governments and corporations, accusing them of stoking global warming by clinging to harmful fossil fuels. Governments agreed in the 2015 Paris accord to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius this century, ideally no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.The report's authors said they had "high confidence" that unless countries step up their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the planet will on average be 2.4C to 3.5C warmer by the end of the century, a level experts say is sure to have severe impacts for much of the world's population.