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Climate disasters mark 2020
A record number of Atlantic hurricanes and western wildfires, devastating floods in Asia and Africa and a hot, melting Arctic made 2020 not just a disastrous year, but a year of disasters.
The average annual land surface air temperature 60 degrees north of Earth’s equator for October 2019-September 2020 was the second highest on record since at least 1900.
This year was the fifth consecutive Atlantic hurricane season to feature at least one Category 5 hurricane and wildfires claimed more than 8.2 million acres of land in the United States.
This combination of satellite images provided by the National Hurricane Center shows 30 hurricanes which occurred during the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Nature struck relentlessly in 2020 with record-breaking and deadly weather and climate related disasters. From the most named storms in the Atlantic with a record number of them intensifying rapidly to the largest area of the western U.S. states burned by wildf
NOAA listed some of this year’s significant findings:
– The average annual land-surface air temperature in the Arctic measured between October 2019 and September 2020 was the second-warmest since record-keeping began in 1900, and was responsible for driving a cascade of impacts across Arctic ecosystems during the year. Nine of the past 10 years saw air temperatures at least 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F) above the 1981-2010 mean. Arctic temperatures for the past six years have all exceeded previous records.
– Extremely high temperatures across Siberia during spring 2020 resulted in the lowest June snow extent across the Eurasian Arctic observed in the past 54 years.
– The 2020 Arctic minimum sea ice extent reached in September was the second-lowest in the satellite record. Overall thickness of the sea ice cover is also decreasing as Arctic ice has transformed from an older, thicker, and stronger ice mass to a younger, thinner more fragile ice mass in the past decade.
Storm Highlights - December 02, 2020
Southeast Alaska: Governor Declares 2020 December Southeast Storms a Disaster Posted and Edited by MARY KAUFFMAN - Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has signed the Disaster Declaration for the storm that caused damage in multiple communities in Southeast Alaska.
The Disaster Declaration activates the State of Alaska Public Assistance program which is designed to help communities, government organizations, and certain non-profits make repairs to utilities, public buildings, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure damaged by the declared event. In addition, the Public Assistance Disaster Declaration will reimburse communities and agencies for eligible response costs associated with the disaster event.