Experts warn of ‘trail of clues’ that suggest our planet is heating faster than we realise

Growing evidence suggests the planet responds more strongly to greenhouse gases than central estimates originally assumed, which could mean more warming than first expected – and from the same level of emissions

Researchers have found that recent warming has accelerated beyond what can be explained by El Niño and other short-term natural fluctuations alone.

The last three years in the UK were the three warmest ever recorded, according to climate data. And the Met Office says 2027 is “very likely” to beat 2024 as the hottest year on record.

Some of that is down to El Niño and other natural fluctuations – but according to several researchers, there’s something else going on underneath that can’t be explained away by natural cycles alone.

Prof Reto Knutti at ETH Zurich has been trying to strip out the effects of El Niño and other temporary factors to get at the underlying trend.

“It’s pretty clear that the rate of warming has accelerated,” he told the BBC.

So why is it speeding up?

Part of the answer, according to scientists, is something most people would assume is good news – cleaner air. Burning coal and oil releases sulphur dioxide, which forms tiny bright particles that reflect sunlight back into space. For decades, that pollution was accidentally counteracting some of the warming caused by CO2.

But clean air policies across Europe, North America and China have been cutting sulphur emissions sharply. And unlike CO2, which hangs around for centuries, sulphate particles only survive in the atmosphere for days or weeks. So