"2020 saw unprecedented global sea levels and the highest annual increase in concentrations of methane, a potent greenhouse gas"
"A fatal virus and a massive economic downturn did not stop planet-warming gases in the atmosphere last year from rising to their highest levels in human history, researchers say. Barely a year after the coronavirus grounded planes, shuttered factories and brought road traffic to a standstill, the associated drop in carbon emissions is all but undetectable to scientists studying our air.
In fact, according to the newly released “State of the Climate in 2020” report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth is arguably in worse shape than it’s been.
While humanity grappled with the deadliest pandemic in a century, many metrics of the planet’s health showed catastrophic decline in 2020. Average global temperatures rivaled the hottest. Mysterious sources of methane sent atmospheric concentrations of the gas spiking to unprecedented highs. Sea levels were the highest on record; fires ravaged the American West; and locusts swarmed across East Africa.
These findings may sound familiar, coming on the heels of a similarly dire assessment from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And they echo NOAA’s report from last year, which also detailed record-high greenhouse gas levels and unprecedented warmth."
Sarah Kaplan reports for the Washington Post August 26, 2021.
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