Singapore: Climate experts are expressing concern that the target of limiting long-term global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) is slipping out of reach. Despite months of unprecedented heat on land and sea, nations have failed to set more ambitious goals.

In early June, as delegates gathered in Bonn to prepare for the annual climate talks in November, average global surface air temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for several days. This marked the first time such temperatures were observed during the northern hemisphere summer. Sea temperatures also broke records in April and May.

Climatologists, such as Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick from the University of New South Wales, emphasize that time is running out due to the gradual nature of change. As climate envoys from the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters prepare to meet, temperatures in Beijing broke June records, and the United States experienced extreme heatwaves.

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Parts of North America saw temperatures 10 degrees Celsius above the seasonal average, accompanied by hazardous haze from forest fires that emitted a record 160 million metric tons of carbon.

In regions like India, where vulnerability to climate change is high, deaths increased due to sustained high temperatures. Spain, Iran, and Vietnam also recorded extreme heat, leading to concerns that last year's deadly summer could become the norm. In 2015, countries agreed in Paris to strive for long-term average temperature increases to remain within 1.5 degrees Celsius.

However, the World Meteorological Organization predicted in May that there is a 66 percent likelihood of the annual mean temperature crossing the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold for at least one whole year between now and 2027.

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A "QUADRUPLE WHAMMY" OF WARMING EFFECTS

Land temperature increases have been paralleled by rising sea temperatures, intensified by factors including El Nino and the decline in Saharan dust blowing over the ocean. The use of low-sulfur shipping fuels has also contributed. Global average sea surface temperatures reached 21 degrees Celsius in late March and have remained at record levels throughout April and May. Australia's weather agency warned of sea temperatures in the Pacific and Indian oceans being 3 degrees Celsius warmer than normal by October.

While global warming is the primary driver, Piers Forster, a climate physics professor at the University of Leeds, highlights that El Nino, the reduction in Saharan dust, and low-sulfur shipping fuels have compounded the warming effects on the oceans.

This combination represents a "quadruple whammy." The consequences are already visible, with thousands of dead fish washing up on Texan beaches and heat-induced algal blooms contributing to the death of sea lions and dolphins in California.

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Warmer seas could lead to reduced wind and rainfall, creating a feedback loop that exacerbates heat further, according to Annalisa Bracco, a climatologist at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Although this year's high sea temperatures are the result of a unique combination of circumstances, their ecological impact may persist. The ocean responds slowly to accumulating heat but retains it for extended periods.