Share
Wildfires raged in Siberia’s vast taiga, one of many effects of 2020’s record temperatures. Denis Bushkovsky/TASS/Newscom
Global temperatures in 2020 tied record highs
Jan. 14, 2021 , 11:00 AM
Housebound by a pandemic, humanity slowed its emissions of greenhouse gases in 2020. But Earth paid little heed: Temperatures last year tied the modern record, climate scientists reported today. Overall, the planet was about 1.25°C warmer than in preindustrial times, according to jointly reported assessments from NASA, the U.K. Met Office, and other institutions.
The annual update of global surface temperatures an average of readings from thousands of weather stations and ocean probes shows 2020 essentially tied records set in 2016. But the years were nothing alike. Temperatures in 2016 were boosted by a strong El Niño, a weather pattern that warms the globe by blocking the rise of cold deep waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Last year, however, the Pacific entered L
Forecast CO2 concentrations at the Mauna Loa observatory, showing monthly (red curve) and annual (red star) values. The green star and green line shows the updated 2020 forecast and its uncertainty, issued following the reduction in global CO2 emissions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Image courtesy of U.K. Met Office via Courthouse News)
PARIS (AFP) Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will this year reach levels 50% higher than before the industrial revolution because of manmade emissions, Britain’s Met Office predicted on Friday.
It forecasted the annual average CO2 concentration measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii in 2021 will be around 2.29 parts per million (ppm) higher than in 2020.
Climate change: Will 2020 be the Earth s hottest year on record? tennessean.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tennessean.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Next Year Is Already Set to Be Among the Hottest on Record
Laura Millan Lombrana, Bloomberg
FacebookTwitterEmail
Big Bend National Park is more than 1,250 square miles, about the size of Rhode Island. The park includes the Chisos Mountains, the southernmost range in the continental U.S., and a large swath of the Chihuahuan Desert.Staff file photo
(Bloomberg)
Next year is already set to be among the hottest on record, even as the planet experiences the temporary cooling effect of La Nina phenomenon.
Average global temperatures for 2021 are forecast to be between 0.91 and 1.15 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the pre-industrial period, according to the U.K.’s Met Office. The six warmest years on record have all occurred since 2015.