Rising temperatures last year culminated in the world’s warmest decade in modern times, federal climate scientists said Thursday.
In a new climate study, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration placed 2020 in full heat, with 2016 as the warmest year since official registration began in 1880. arrived despite a cooling current from the Pacific Ocean of La Niña, which suffered slightly lower global temperatures in December.
In an independent assessment published at the same time, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is based on slightly different methods and temperature records, calculated that last year’s average annual temperature was the second highest so far; record set in 2016.
“These long-term trends are very, very clear,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. “This is another test that tells us the planet is warming up decade by decade.”
Scientists from NASA and NOAA labeled 2020 as a year of extremes, driven by rising levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that trap heat into the atmosphere.