Human beings love keeping track of things and according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, January 2020 was the hottest January in 141 years of climate records. It turns out that global land and ocean surface temperatures were 1.14 degrees Celcius above the 20th century average, and it’s hardly surprising given the rate at which we continue to rape our planet of its resources.
Scientists have been warning nations about the consequences of our continued neglect on the planet for years and it turns out that the planet is warming faster than they originally thought. It’s so bad that the UN has said that even if nations stick to the Paris agreement, climate change is still inevitable and will be a major disaster. At the rate we’re going, we’re on course to heat up the planet by more than 1.5˚C. This is huge. A 2 degree increase in temperature would make it hard for us to grow crops not only because of the severe heat, but also because of the vast areas of land that will be underwater.
JUST IN: January 2020 surpassed 2016 as the warmest #January on record for globe, according to @NOAANCEIclimate https://t.co/Y88Yf1yBud #StateOfClimate pic.twitter.com/2rkFPVi85r
— NOAA (@NOAA) February 13, 2020
This revelation however, should come as no surprise. 2019 was the Earth’s second warmest year on record, with last June being the hottest month ever. With Antartica recording record high temperatures and 10 of the warmest Januaries on record occurring since 2002, we’re looking at a bleak end to the decade if things don’t change.
