Climate change: 2020 will be one of the three warmest years on record

The Earth continued to endure a significant warming period in 2020 according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Its tentative assessment suggests that this year will be one of the three warmest, behind only 2016 and 2019.

The six warmest years in world records dating back to 1850 have occurred since 2015.

The most notable heat was in the Siberian Arctic, where temperatures were 5 ° C above average.

To calculate the annual rise in temperatures for its state of the climate report, WMO uses information from five different global data sets.

They then compare modern readings with temperatures taken between 1850-1900. This benchmark figure is sometimes called pre-industrial levels.

With data available from January to October this year, the WMO says that 2020 will be around 1.2 ° C above the baseline, but with a 0.1 ° C margin of error.

All five datasets currently have 2020 as the second warmest, behind 2016 and ahead of 2019, based on comparisons with similar periods in previous years.

However, the scientists’ expectation is that the November and December temperature data will likely see enough cooling to push 2020 to third place.

That’s because a La Niña weather event has developed in the Pacific Ocean and this typically depresses temperatures.

Despite this, WMO is confident that 2020 will remain one of the three warmest.

“Record hot years have generally coincided with a strong El Niño episode, as was the case in 2016,” said Professor Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary General.

“We are now experiencing a La Niña, which has a cooling effect on global temperatures, but it has not been enough to curb the heat this year.”

These relatively similar global temperature figures recorded in recent years hide considerable differences at the local level.

In 2020, Siberia recorded temperatures around 5 ° C above average, culminating in a reading of 38 ° C in Verkhoyansk on June 20, which is tentatively the highest known temperature recorded anywhere north of the Polar Circle. Arctic.

January to October was also the warmest period on record in Europe.

But some places were below average, including parts of Canada, Brazil, India and Australia.

Overall, however, the 2020 figure reinforces the view that global warming, driven by human activities, persists. The decade from 2011 to 2020 is the warmest on record so far.

Most of the excess heat generated by warming gases in the atmosphere ends up in the oceans.

This is putting additional pressure on the seas, with around 80% of global waters experiencing at least one marine heat wave this year. These events, similar to heat waves on land, cause prolonged exposure to high temperatures that can have devastating impacts on marine creatures and ecosystems.

A long-lasting heat wave off the coast of California, known as “the spot,” was said to have killed up to one million seabirds in 2015-16.

Researchers say that these events have become more than 20 times more frequent in the last 40 years.

“About 90% of the heat that builds up within the climate system from anthropogenic climate change is stored in the ocean,” said Professor John Church of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

“This latest WMO update clearly shows that the oceans continue to warm, and at a rapid rate, contributing to sea level rise. This means that climate change has significant momentum and commits us to continue to change for decades to come.

The WMO says warming continues to drive melting in many parts of the world, including Greenland, where around 152 billion tonnes of ice were lost from the ice sheet in the year through August 2020.

There were 30 named storms during the North Atlantic hurricane season, breaking the record for the number of such events.

In addition to record numbers, new evidence suggests that hurricanes get stronger when they hit land due to rising temperatures.

Other impacts noted by WMO this year included wildfires in Siberia, Australia and along the west coast of the US and South America, which saw plumes of smoke circumnavigating the world.

Floods in Africa and Southeast Asia displaced large numbers of people and undermined the food security of millions.

The findings of the WMO report will not surprise most observers.

“The state of the global climate? It’s unfortunate,” said Professor Dave Reay of the University of Edinburgh, UK.

“These annual updates on declining planetary health are always gloomy reading – this year is a total red alert. Increasing heat, intensifying droughts, and rampant wildfires speak to the acute impacts of climate change in 2020. They also warn of the Chronic weakening of global carbon sinks, the world’s oceans, trees, and soils, that’s underway.

“If we throw even more emissions and warming at them, they will take the Paris climate targets out of our grasp forever. The year ahead will be defined by our recovery from Covid-19, centuries to come will be defined by how green that recovery really is.” . “

Environmental activists say the report adds urgency to calls for recovery, post-Covid, to focus on climate change and the environment.

“Although the pandemic will have been the biggest concern for many people in the developed world in 2020, for millions of people in places vulnerable to climate, the climate emergency remains the greatest threat and, sadly, there is no simple vaccine to fix the climate. But keeping fossil fuels on the ground would be a good start, “said Dr. Kat Kramer of Christian Aid.

“These findings show how important it is to ensure that the government’s economic recovery measures do not anchor the fossil fuel economy, but rather act to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free world.”

According to a new report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), climate change is now the biggest threat to the world’s most important heritage sites.

The IUCN says 83 of those sites are now threatened by rising temperatures, including the Great Barrier Reef, where ocean warming, acidification and extreme weather have contributed to a dramatic decline.

It has been qualified for the first time with a “critical” perspective.