September was the hottest in history, says the European climate change service | Nature

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Extending a long-term warming trend caused by heat-trapping gas emissions, this year’s high temperatures have played a major role in disasters, from fires in California and the Arctic to floods in Asia, scientists say.

“As we enter an even warmer world, certain extremes tend to occur more frequently and to be more intense,” Copernicus senior scientist Freja Vamborg told Reuters, pointing to heat waves and periods of heavy rain. as examples of this.

Overall, September 2020 was 0.05 ° C warmer than the same month in 2019 and 0.08 ° C warmer than 2016, years that had the two highest records ever recorded, Copernicus data showed.

In the final three months of 2020, weather events like the La Niña phenomenon and projected low levels of Arctic sea ice in the fall will influence whether the year as a whole will become the warmest on record, the Copernicus service said.

The last five years have been the warmest on record in the world. Average global temperatures have already risen about 1ºC above pre-industrial times.

The countries agreed, under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, to try to limit warming to 1.5 ° C, which scientists say would prevent further catastrophic impacts of climate change.

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But while major emitters, including China and the European Union, have pledged to cut their emissions in the coming decades, overall, with current policies, temperatures have risen well beyond the 1.5 degree level.

“This is the key point. The Earth has become very hot and will continue to do so if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate,” Vamborg said.

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