World Experiences Hottest November on Record in 2020
This year is on track to be one of the three hottest on record, completing a run of six years that were all hotter than any year ever measured before, said the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The world experienced the hottest November on record in 2020, while Europe has had its warmest fall weather in history, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said said in a monthly report on Monday.
Observations from around the world reveal that the global-mean temperatures recorded over the course of November 2020 were about 0.77°C warmer than the 1981-2010 average for this month. November 2020 was also 0.13°C warmer than the previous warmest Novembers, which occurred in 2016 and 2019.
Further, comparing the global warmth with the climatological average for the month in question, November 2020 was also the joint fourth most extreme month on record. Its temperature anomaly was on a par with that of January 2020, with only February and March 2016 and February 2020 being more extreme.
Earth is seeing an increase in the frequency and strength of extreme weather events as human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels contribute to a rise in average global temperatures. The changing climate has resulted in devastating wildfires and led to ever more violent tropical storms in many regions of the world.
The five hottest years in history have all come since 2015. A landmark deal struck in that year, the Paris Agreement, aims to limit temperature rises to “well below” 2 C (3.6 F) above pre-industrial levels. Currently, the Earth is seeing just over 1 C of warming.
“The calendar year of 2020 as a whole is likely to remain on a par with or become marginally warmer than 2016 unless the global temperature anomaly falls significantly from November to December, which would not be unprecedented,” the Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
