1) So, about the global temperature data released today by NOAA and NASA. The main findings are startling enough: 2nd-hottest year ever, hottest 5 years since 2015, hottest decade since record-keeping began. But…
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
2) Take a look at this really sharp graphic from @JohnMuyskens. It underscores just how warm the past five years have been. And researchers say 2020 has a 95% chance to be among the hottest ever. 
3) Another fact that jumped out at me today from @BerkeleyEarth: No place on Earth experienced a record cold annual average during 2019. But 36 countries experienced their hottest year since instrumental records began.
@BerkeleyEarth 4) In fact, for at least 10% of the planet, 2019 was the hottest year on record. See exactly where in this fabulous, frightening map from @JohnMuyskens:
5) The new data also reiterate what the Post climate/environment team spent much of 2019 exploring – that warming is happening unevenly across the world, and there are hot spots that are heating up much faster than the global average.
6) Here is a look at the current spots around the U.S. that have already experienced 2C (3.6F) of warming over the past century: washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/…
7) And here is a look at global hot spots, which are heating up faster than the average: washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/…
8) In 2019, @washingtonpost told stories of how extreme warming is altering lives and landscapes in the U.S., Canada, Uruguay, Angola, Qatar, Australia, Russia, Japan and elsewhere. As warming continues, more places will cross these thresholds.
9) Another thing today’s numbers makes clear: The warming trend bears the unmistakable fingerprint of humans. “If we continue emitting at current levels, we will continue warming,” @hausfath told me.
10) To state the obvious, the data represents more than merely numbers. Scientists say this sharp warming is helping fuel wildfires from Australia to California, melt permafrost from Alaska to Siberia and contribute to more intense storms and floods.
11) “The evidence isn’t just in surface temperature,” atmospheric scientist Benjamin Santer told us. “It’s Arctic sea ice. It’s atmospheric water vapor increases. It’s changes in glaciers in Alaska. It’s changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet. It’s all of the above."
12) Oh, and heatwaves. In December, Australia shattered its record for the hottest-ever day (107.4F). Paris registered a sweltering 108.7 degrees July 25. The Anchorage airport closed 90F for the first time last summer: washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
13) So, if the way to slow rising temperatures is to cut global emissions, how is that going? So far, not great, unfortunately.
14) Global greenhouse gas emissions once again hit a record high in 2019. even though they fell slightly in the United States due to the shift away from coal. washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
15) Last fall, the U.N. warned that global temps are on pace to rise as much as 3.2C (5.8F) by 2100, and that emissions must begin falling by 7.6 percent each year beginning 2020 to meet the most ambitious goals of the Paris climate accord.
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
16) More than 100 countries have vowed to submit more ambitious plans to fight climate change this year. But they collectively represent only about 15 percent of global emissions. That means big emitters are, for the moment, largely on the sidelines. s3-sa-east-1.amazonaws.com/cop25.cl/docum…
17) Oh, and things didn’t go so well at the annual U.N. climate conference in Madrid in December, when nations were supposed to begin the process of ramping up their pledges to slash emissions. washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
18) But hey, that’s the bad news. Plenty of scientists and policymakers say there’s time to bend the warming curve if societies embrace a shift away from fossil fuels. Though it needs to happen sooner than later to avoid more serious consequences: washingtonpost.com/energy-environ…
19) Here's what @DrKateMarvel on the simple but daunting challenge: “The planet is statistically, detectably warmer than before the Industrial Revolution. We know why. We know what it means. And we can do something about it.”
20) And let's give @hausfath the last word on how humans can shape their own fate: “What happens in the future depends a lot on our emissions of greenhouse gases as a society ... What happens in the future is really up to us."
(END)
(END)
