Last summer,400 all - time temperature records were brokenacross the orb – an achievement we certainly should n’t be celebrating . Various month were thehottest they ’ve ever been , and it seems that troubling trend has tailed us into the new year . According to the European Union’sCopernicus Climate Change Service(CCCS ) , last month was officially the hottest January in its data record .
At 0.77 ° C higher than the 1981 - 2010 January norm , January 2020 was just a smidgen warmer than January 2016 , surpassing it by 0.3 ° atomic number 6 . 2016 entertain the award for the ardent year on record thanks to a combination of clime change and theEl Niño climate cycle . The fact that 2020 is currently beating 2016 is a bleak reminder of the encroachment thathuman activityis make on the globe .
The preceding five years have been the hottest we ’ve regard , and experts admonish that this trend is only set to continue . Politiciansmust act nowand act drastically to curb the planet - heating carbon expelling wreaking mayhem on the earth ’s delicate climate .
According to the CCCS , most of Europe experienced an outstandingly warm January this year , particularly countries in the eastern United States and Union of the continent . Some nations were hit with temperature more than 6 ° degree centigrade above average .
Nordic land , known for their chilly climate , had an outstandingly toasty January . Norway had its warmest January day on disc and its 2d affectionate January since 1900 . Meanwhile , Finland experienced its blistering January since 1961 . The CCCS note that in Sweden , bothreindeerherders and skier were negatively impacted by the warmer mood .
Above - average temperature were found across most of Russia , spreading into Asia to accomplish Japan , parts of easterly China , and parts of Southeast Asia . The atomic number 80 also resurrect higher than mediocre in January in both Antarctica and Australia ’s New South Wales , which has been scourge by unprecedentedwildfires in recent months .
However , while January was , on fair , the warmest one on record , not everywhere experienced above - median temperatures . Parts of southern Europe experienced temperatures a picayune below average , as did the Carpathian Basin and parts of the Svalbard archipelago . Outside Europe , temp were below the 1981 - 2010 norm over Alaska and northwest Canada , as well as over Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island .
While clime deniers might use this as “ evidence ” to support their damaging dismissal of the global climate crisis , it is clear from the data that the Earth ’s overall drift is to a warmer world , one that will become ceaselessly more unlivable for both people andanimals . Only with severe policy change can we mitigate this warming and guarantee our satellite ’s future .
