Comprehensive climate data has shown that globally, 2020 was the warmest year on record, tied with 2016. Worryingly, 2020’s record came in spite of a La Niña event, which has a cooling effect, while 2016’s record came off the back of a warming El Niño.

The data comes from the European Union’s Copernicus program, which is comprised of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). The C3S dataset shows that average global surface air temperatures in 2020 were about 1.25 °C (2.25 °F) warmer than the baseline between 1850 and 1900, and 0.6 °C (1.1 °F) warmer than the 1981 to 2010 reference period.

A heat map of the world, comparing air temperatures for 2020 to the average of 1981-2010 reference period

This makes 2020 the warmest year on record for Europe, where temperatures climbed to 1.6 °C (2.9 °F) above the 1981 to 2010 average, and 0.4 °C (0.7 °F) higher than the previous record holder, 2019. But the biggest spike occurred in the Arctic region, where an unprecedented heatwave helped temperatures soar by more than 6 °C (10.8 °F) above the 1981 to 2010 average.

According to both Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the six warmest years on record are the last six, and the top 20 all occur in the last 21 years. The decade of 2011 to 2020 is also the warmest decade on record, continuing a clear upward trend since the 1980s.

But what makes the new warmest year record particularly concerning is that parts of the Southern Hemisphere experienced lower than average temperatures due to a La Niña event, a weather pattern associated with cooler conditions. That doesn’t bode well for future years under El Niño, the opposite weather pattern which has a warming effect.

“Record warm years have usually coincided with a strong El Niño event, as was the case in 2016,” says Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of WMO. “We are now experiencing a La Niña, which has a cooling effect on global temperatures, but has not been sufficient to put a brake on this year’s heat. Despite the current La Niña conditions, this year has already shown near record heat comparable to the previous record of 2016.”

The temperature records were accompanied by records in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. The global column-averaged maximum CO2 levels hit 413.1 parts per million (pp) – a record high – with an observatory in Hawaii recording an individual record high of 416.21 ppm in May 2020.

The year-on-year growth of CO2 concentrations slowed somewhat in 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdowns. This figure was 2.3 ppm/year, down from 2.5 ppm/year in 2019, however that isn’t enough to put much of a dent in climate change.

More details about 2020’s climate will be released in various reports from WMO and Copernicus over the next few months.

https://newatlas.com/environment/2020-hottest-year-record-with-2016/

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Around 150,000 years ago I’d say.

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Industrial revolution?

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Since the later Pleistocene.

A couple of weeks ago they were saying the second warmest. Looks like it has been revised upwards.

Tamb said:

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Industrial revolution?

That sort of event yes but it seems to have accelerated in the second half of the 20th century.

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

late nineteen -seventies the momentum and trajectory of irretrievable mass stupid took hold

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Probably the total impact was minimal until the wave of megafauna extinctions starting 200000 years ago.

dv said:

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Probably the total impact was minimal until the wave of megafauna extinctions starting 200000 years ago.

Damn, I was winning the bidding by a mile up till now.

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Probably the total impact was minimal until the wave of megafauna extinctions starting 200000 years ago.

Damn, I was winning the bidding by a mile up till now.

From the first evolved Homo sapiens, been downhill ever since.

dv said:

Cymek said:

When could we claim the human race started messing the planet up big time
Beginning of the 20th century or even less than that say the last 50 years, either way didn’t take long

Probably the total impact was minimal until the wave of megafauna extinctions starting 200000 years ago.

I am presently reading Bill Gammage’s “The Biggest Estate on Earth”. He makes a very good case that the Aboriginal people here were excellent at incrementally making rather big changes.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13041243-the-biggest-estate-on-earth