The year 2020 was joint hottest on record, tied with 2016 culminating in an unfortunate list of disasters.
Data released by the Copernicus Climate Change Service revealed 2020 was joint hottest on record along with 2016.
According to the Met Office, last year saw for the first time 6 consistent days of 30c + temperatures in the UK alone, and out of control wildfires spread globally including in Australia, the United States and even some in Britain.
The arctic, in particular Nizhnyaya Pesha, Russia, experienced inexplicable weather caused by anthropogenic climate-change hitting in excess of 30c inspiring a flurry of forest fires. In the rural locality of Khatanga, Russia, temperatures usually record at 0c, though last year’s summer temperatures drove mercury to 25c+ causing alarm for what this means for the state of the planet and its future.
This unfortunate news comes during the global pandemic which brought nations and industry to a standstill including carbon emissions. Despite this, global temperatures continue to climb and 2020 became a preview for what is yet to come of human-induced climate change.
There is hope as governments have signalled an intent to change both business and personal practices. In the UK, a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 has been enacted, and it is also hosting the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow 2021 at a time where a greater global sense of urgency is apparent.
Though the world still has a long way to go before we’re out of the red. A rapid reduction in the production of plastics, use of oil, changes in the way computing/mobile products are produced and the way we govern our homes require better logic.
The NOAA has reported that last year, a total of $95 billion in damage was caused by climate driven and weather related incidents resulting in 262 deaths.
Stanisland Magazine 