Last year was by far the warmest on record, most recently in a series of annual global climate reports.
Europe’s average temperature in 2020 was just 1.9 ° C higher than the year 1981-2010 long-running average, according to the 31st Climate Report published online by the American Meteorological Society.
The latest report emphasises that Covid’s measures of locked outs and travel restrictions reduced carbon dioxide emissions by just about 6-7 percent by 2020, and greenhouse gas concentrations have reached record levels.
The previous year was one of just three warmest on record since records began in 1850, the Climate Report reveals.
The report finds that average surface temperature over land surfaces in the Arctic was the highest since data began in 1900.
Last year was also the seventh consecutive year of annual Arctic temperatures exceeding 1C above the 1981-2010 average.
In the Arctic, average air conditions in 2020 were the highest on record at 2.1 degrees Celsius higher than the average for 1981-2010.
The state of the climate report comes after the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared earlier this month that the world temperature in 2020 will be almost 1.1 degrees warmer than 19th Century temperature.
3 years since the first #ClimateStrike …
Since then, the climate crisis has continued to worsen, and its impacts have been felt everywhere.
But we haven't given up. The global movement is stronger than ever 💪 we're not going anywhere – together we will win! pic.twitter.com/uxmnXbmE3N
— 350.org Europe (@350Europe) August 20, 2021
#Heatwaves, #wildfires & #drought: How this #summer is a 'preview' of #Earth 's coming #climate crisishttps://t.co/omeWhS4bvk
Extreme #weather and oppressive #heat have hit from the #Pacific #Northwest to parts of #Europe and #NorthAfrica. #Climate scientists expect more of it pic.twitter.com/RT61C1Aw6J— Earthr.org (@EarthrOrg) August 20, 2021