Jan 15,2021: Global temperatures in 2020 were among the highest on record and rivalled 2016 as the hottest year ever.
The world is on course for a “catastrophic” temperature rise this century, the United Nations has warned.
Global temperatures in 2020 were among the highest on record and it rivalled 2016 as the hottest year ever, according to international data compiled by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The heat came even as a global economic slowdown from the COVID-19 pandemic cut deeply into emissions from fossil fuels, adding evidence that carbon dioxide concentrations already in the atmosphere have set the planet on a warming track.
The relentless pace of climate change is “destroying lives”, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday as the WMO said 2011 to 2020 was the warmest decade recorded.
“We are headed for a catastrophic temperature rise of 3-5 [degrees Celsius] this century … making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21st century. It must be the top priority,” Guterres said.
The WMO report included data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the UK Met Office, both of which ranked 2020 as the second-warmest year on record, as a cooling trend called La Nina failed to tame global temperatures.
The La Nina cool phase of the Pacific Ocean surface temperatures cycle “put a brake on the heat only at the very end of the year”, the WMO said.
It said the average global temperature in 2020 was about 14.9 degrees Celsius (58.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
