LONDON (Reuters) - The world faces a 50 percent chance of recording a warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, even briefly by 2026, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday.

This does not mean that the world would be crossing the long-term warming limit of 1.5°C, which scientists have set as a ceiling to prevent catastrophic climate change.

But a year of warming at 1.5°C could offer a taste of what it would be like to cross that long-term limit, the U.N. agency said.

"We are getting closer to temporarily reaching the lowest goal of the Paris Agreement," said WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas, referring to the climate agreements adopted in 2015.

The probability of exceeding 1.5°C for a short period has been increasing since 2015, with scientists in 2020 estimating a 20% chance and revising last year to up to 40%. Even a year with 1.5°C of warming can have terrible impacts, such as killing many of the world's coral reefs and decreasing Arctic sea ice cover.

In terms of long-term average, the global average temperature is now about 1.1°C warmer than the pre-industrial average.

"Losses and damage associated with or exacerbated by climate change are already occurring, some of them likely irreversible in the near future," said Maxx Dilley, deputy director of climate at the WMO.

Source: ISTOÉ Dinheiro