EU project: 2020 was warmest year in Europe since records began

Das Jahr 2020 war in Europa so warm wie kein anderes seit Beginn der Aufzeichnungen. Weltweit gesehen sei 2020 genauso warm gewesen wie das bisherige Rekordjahr 2016. Das teilte der europäischen Copernicus-Klimawandeldienst in London mit. Mit dem Jahr 2020 wurde der Auswertung zufolge außerdem die wärmste bisher aufgezeichnete Dekade beendet.

The Climate Change Service collects its own data and uses other records from ground stations, balloons, aircraft and satellites going back to 1950. In Europe, the year was an average of 1.6 degrees Celsius warmer than the 30-year reference period from 1981 to 2010 - and 0.4 degrees warmer than the previous European record year of 2019.
Globally, 2020 fared the same as the record heat year of 2016, with temperatures 0.6 degrees higher than the 1981 to 2010 reference period. Comparing 2020 to pre-industrial-era temperatures, it was actually 1.25 degrees warmer. In some cases, the climate change service also uses data series back to 1850. CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere also rose again, according to the report.

Buontempo: "Another warning signal"

"2020 stands out because of the exceptional heat in the Arctic and a large number of tropical storms in the North Atlantic," comments Copernicus Climate Change Service Director Carlo Buontempo. "Unsurprisingly, the last decade was the warmest ever recorded and, moreover, it is a renewed warning signal that ambitious greenhouse gas reduction measures need to be implemented even more urgently to prevent further dire consequences from climate change."
The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) produces monthly reports on air temperature, sea ice and the water cycle. It draws on data from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the globe.

According to initial analyses released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in December, 2020 is expected to be one of the three warmest years since records began in the mid-19th century. It planned to announce more precise data later. For Germany, 2020 was the second warmest year since measurements began in 1881, according to initial analyses by the German Weather Service, and it was the tenth year in a row in which the average temperature exceeded the multi-year mean.