Along with a burst of a pandemic and wildfires cross Australia, Siberia and the United States, 2020 also tied for the hottest year on record, a new NASA study shows.
Until last year, 2016 was recorded as the hottest year for planet Earth. Now, the record has been passed onto 2020. In 2020, the global average temperature was 1.84 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the mean global temperature for the years between 1951-1980 (which is used as a baseline), NASA scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York found, as reported by CNBC.
“This year has been a very striking example of what it’s like to live under some of the most severe effects of climate change that we’ve been predicting,” Lesley Ott, a research meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA said in a statement.
In addition, “the last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend,” GISS Director Gavin Schmidt said in a statement released by NASA. The important things are long-term trends. With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken.”
“The important things are long-term trends. With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken.”
To reduce carbon footprints, here are several things that we can do including using LED lights. The LED lights use less electricity and emit the same amount of light. Scientist Ott suggests: “Climate is such a widespread and challenging issue right now, that there are lots of things no matter what your profession that you can do to contribute.” She further encourages people to “look at what’s going on in their own cities, in their own states, and see if there’s some change they can make there.” For example, local activists can advocate for green spaces, reliable public transportation and office or apartment building-wide policies.”
