View source for Earth:2020 in climate change

This article documents events, research findings, scientific and technological advances, and human actions to measure, predict, [[Earth:Climate change mitigation|mitigate]], and [[Earth:Climate change adaptation|adapt to]] the [[Biology:Effects of climate change|effects]] of [[Earth:Climate change|global warming and climate change]]—during the year 2020.

==Summaries==
* The December 2020 ''Lancet'' Countdown review concluded that trends in 2020 showed "a concerning paucity of progress" in numerous sectors, including "a continued failure to reduce the carbon intensity of the global energy system, an increase in the use of coal-fired power, and a rise in agricultural emissions and premature deaths from excess red meat consumption. These issues (were) in part counteracted by the growth of renewable energy and improvements in low-carbon transport."{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=26 of PDF ("Conclusion")}} Despite increasing climate suitability for [[Earth:Climate change and infectious diseases|infectious disease transmission]] and falling crop yield potential, "the global response has remained muted"{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=36 of PDF ("Conclusion: the 2020 report of ''The Lancet'' Countdown")}} but "2020 will probably be an inflection point for several of the indicators (to be) presented during the coming decade".{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=26 of PDF ("Conclusion")}} The survey further noted that "the nature and extent of the economic impact and response to the COVID-19 pandemic will have a defining role in determining whether the world meets the commitments of the Paris Agreement".{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=31 of PDF ("Conclusion")}}

==Measurements and statistics==
[[File:20201231 Vital signs of the planet - NASA - climate change.png|thumb|center|1000px| "Vital Signs of the Planet" as presented by NASA on 31 December 2020<ref name=NASAvitals_20201231/>]]
* NASA [[Organization:Goddard Institute for Space Studies|GISS]] reported 2020's globally averaged temperature was 1.84&nbsp;°F (1.02&nbsp;°C) warmer than the baseline 1951-1980 mean, slightly greater than 2016 but within the margin of error of the analysis, making 2020 effectively tie 2016 as the warmest year on record<ref name=NASAGISS_20210114/> despite [[Earth:La Niña|La Niña]]'s cooling effect.<ref name=WMO_20201202/> Independently, [[Astronomy:Copernicus Programme|Copernicus (EU)]] concurred with NASA's conclusion, while NOAA and the U.K. [[Company:Met Office|Met Office]] concluded 2020 was the second warmest.<ref name=NOAA_20210114/>
* High northern latitudes:
::* Siberia recorded its second warmest January–June temperatures on record—more than 5°C (9°F) above average—including up to 10°C (18°F) above average in June.<ref name=WMO_20200716/> Verkhoyansk, located north of the arctic circle, recorded a temperature of 38°C (100°F) on 20 June.<ref name=WMO_20200716/><ref name=WMO_20211214/> An analysis showed that, without human-induced climate change, these January–June temperatures would happen less than once in every 80,000 years.<ref name=WMO_20200716/>
::* The fire season in [[Biography:Sakha Republic|Sakha]] (Siberia) was unprecedented in the 20-year [[Astronomy:Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer|MODIS]] record in terms of an earlier start and northern extent, with some fires burning only about 11 km from the Chukchi Sea.{{sfn|York|Bhatt|Gargulinski|Grabinski|2020|loc=Wildland Fire...}} From March through June, the burned area was greater than 2.9 times the 20-year mean.{{sfn|York|Bhatt|Gargulinski|Grabinski|2020|loc=Wildland Fire...}}
::* End-of-winter [[Physics:Arctic sea ice decline|Arctic sea ice extent]] was the 11th lowest, and the end-of-summer extent the second-lowest, in the 1979-2020 satellite record.{{sfn|Perovich|Meier|Tschudi|Hendricks|2020}}
::* April 2020 Northern Hemisphere sea ice volume was approximately 1,000 km<sup>3</sup> below the 2010-2019 average, and October 2020 sea ice volume showed the lowest value in the preceding 10 years because of a second largest summer loss of 15.215 km<sup>3</sup>.{{sfn|Perovich|Meier|Tschudi|Hendricks|2020}}
[[File:20201211 Billion dollar events related to climate change - U.S. -en.svg|thumb|upright=1.5| NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has reported growing numbers of weather and climate-related events costing at least a billion dollars,<ref name=BillionDollarDisastersNOAA_2023>Annual data: {{cite web |title=Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters / United States Billion-Dollar Disaster Events 1980- (CPI-Adjusted) |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/time-series/US |publisher=National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113044752/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/time-series/US |archive-date=13 January 2024 |url-status=live }} Click "Access data".</ref> exceeding the 1980–2019 inflation-adjusted average of 6.6 such events.<ref name=NCEI_thru202009/>]]
* 6 February: in a 1 July 2021 press release, the [[Organization:World Meteorological Organization|World Meteorological Organization]] officially recognized a new record high temperature for the Antarctic continent of 18.3&nbsp;°C (64.9&nbsp;°F) reached on 6 February 2020, exceeding the previous high of 17.5&nbsp;°C (24 March 2015) for the Antarctic region.<ref name=WMO_20210701/>
* First half of 2020: Ember reported that wind and solar's share of global electricity rose to 9.8%, up from 4.6% at the 2015 signing of the Paris Climate Agreement; also in 2020: Germany (42%), UK (33%), EU (21%), Turkey (13%), US (12%), China, India, Japan, Brazil (each 10%), and Russia (0.2%).<ref name=Ember_20200813/>
* The September 2020 monthly average {{CO2}} concentration at Mauna Loa station was 411.29 ppm (up from 408.54 ppm in September 2019), and at Cape Grim in Tasmania, 410.8 ppm (up from 408.58 ppm in 2019).<ref name=WMO_20201123/>
* Antarctic ice in 2020 was close to or slightly above the 42-year mean.<ref name=WMO_20201202/>
* On 16 August, [[Earth:Death Valley|Death Valley]] reached 54.4&nbsp;°C (129.9&nbsp;°F), the highest known temperature in the world in at least the last 80 years.<ref name=WMO_20201202/>
* On 4 January, Penrith, New South Wales reached 48.9&nbsp;°C (120&nbsp;°F), the highest observed temperature in an Australian metropolitan area.<ref name=WMO_20201202/>
* In the Middle East, temperature records were set in [[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] (42.7&nbsp;°C, 108.8&nbsp;°F), Eilat (48.9&nbsp;°C, 120&nbsp;°F), Kuwait Airport (52.1&nbsp;°C, 125.8&nbsp;°F) and [[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]] (51.8&nbsp;°C, 125.2&nbsp;°F).<ref name=WMO_20201202/>
* [[Earth:Ocean heat content|Ocean heat content]] (OHC) in the upper 2000&nbsp;m (6600&nbsp;ft) reached a record high in 2020 (data collected since 1958), the average annual linear rate increase since 1986 being almost eight times larger than the linear rate from 1958 to 1985.<ref name=Cheng_2021/>
* NOAA's [[Organization:National Centers for Environmental Information|National Centers for Environmental Information]] (NCEI) reported (see chart) that in 2020, the U.S. experienced 22 weather and climate-related events costing at least a billion dollars, exceeding the 1980–2019 [[Finance:Consumer price index|inflation-adjusted]] average of 6.6 such events.<ref name=NCEI_thru202009/>
* The U.N.'s 2020 Emissions Gap Report stated that the highest-earning 1% of the global population account for more than twice the combined greenhouse gas emissions of the lowest-earning 50%.{{sfn|UNEP, UNEP DTU Partnership|2020|loc=Exec. Summ. § 14 }} To meet the 1.5&nbsp;°C goal of the Paris Agreement, the 1 percent would need to reduce their current emissions by at least a factor of 30, while the per capita emissions of the poorest 50 per cent could increase by around three times their current levels.{{sfn|UNEP, UNEP DTU Partnership|2020|loc=Exec. Summ. § 14 }}
* In April 2021, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimated that in 2020, climate-related disasters were largely responsible for 389 recorded events resulting in 15,080 deaths, 98.4 million people affected, and economic losses of at least US$171.3 billion.<ref name=UNODRR_20210400/>
* Reported September 2021: a record 227 environmental activists were killed throughout the world in 2020, with especially high numbers throughout Latin America and the Amazon, most of those killed being small-scale farmers or indigenous people, most defending forests from extractive industries including logging, agribusiness and mining.<ref name=InsideClimateNews_20210914/>
* 12 April 2022: a study of 2020 storms of at least tropical storm-strength published in ''Nature Communications'' concluded that human-induced climate change increased extreme 3-hourly storm rainfall rates by 10%, and extreme 3-day accumulated rainfall amounts by 5%.<ref name=NatureComms_20220412/> For hurricane-strength storms, the figures increased to 11% and 8%.<ref name=NatureComms_20220412/>

==Natural events and phenomena==
* ''The COVID-19 pandemic'':
::* As a direct consequence of the pandemic, an 8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions was projected for 2020, which would be the largest 1-year decline on record.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=4 of PDF (Panel 1)}} However, this reduction was a result of reduced economic activity, not the decarbonization of the economy required to respond to climate change.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=4 of PDF (Panel 1)}} 
::* The [[Organization:Global Carbon Project|Global Carbon Project]] estimated that global ''daily'' {{CO2}} emissions may have been reduced by 17% during the most intense periods of [[Social:COVID-19 lockdowns|COVID-19 shutdowns]], but the [[Organization:World Meteorological Organization|WMO]]'s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin indicated that this short-term impact cannot cause 2020's annual figure to exceed the 1 ppm natural inter-annual variability.<ref name=WMO_20201123/>
* ''[[Earth:2019–20 Australian bushfire season|Australia bushfires]]'':
::* By March 2020, "Black Summer" fires burnt almost 19 million hectares (46.95 million acres), destroyed over 3,000 houses, and killed 33 people and more than a billion animals, and is estimated to have had a A$20 billion impact, exceeding the record A$4.4 billion of 2009's Black Saturday fires.<ref name=Filkov_202009/>
::* A model-based analysis of heat and drought conditions underlying these Australian bushfires found that anthropogenic climate change had caused the probability of extreme heat to increase by at least a factor of two, and the risk of a Fire Weather Index being "severe" or worse to increase by at least 30%.<ref name=vanOldenborgh_20200311/>
::* Smoke in the stratosphere from the Australian bushfires induced planetary-scale blocking of solar radiation larger than any previously documented wildfires, with the same order of [[Astronomy:Radiative forcing|radiative forcing]] as produced by moderate volcanic eruptions.<ref name=Khaykin_20200921/>
* ''U.S. wildfires:'' In only seven weeks early in the 2020 Western United States wildfire season, a record 2.7 million hectares (6.7 million acres) burned, leaving tens of thousands homeless.<ref name=NEJMwildfires_20201126/>
* ''The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season'' included 30 named storms (a record), 13 hurricanes (second highest on record), and record water levels in several locations.<ref name=NOAAhurricane_20201124/><ref name=NatGeo_20201110/>
* 11 December: Research published by the [[Organization:American Geophysical Union|American Geophysical Union]] estimated that at least 23 of 30 magnitude-5+ earthquakes in Alaska since 1770 were worsened by [[Vertical displacement#Glacial isostatic adjustment|glacial isostatic adjustment]],<ref group=Note name=Alaska_earthquakes/> which is the [[Earth:Post-glacial rebound|upward movement]] of the Earth's crust due to loss of mass of [[Earth:Retreat of glaciers since 1850|glaciers as they melt]].<ref name=AmGeophysUnion_20201211/>
* In December, Iceberg A-68 approached South Georgia island, retaining an area of 4,200&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (1,600&nbsp;mi<sup>2</sup>)<ref name=Reuters_20201218/> after having [[Earth:Ice calving|calved]] away much of its mass since it broke off from [[Earth:Larsen Ice Shelf#Larsen C|Antarctica]] in 2017 as a 5,800&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (2,200&nbsp;mi<sup>2</sup>) iceberg estimated at one trillion tonnes.<ref name=Guardian_20210131/>

==Actions and goal statements==
===Science and technology===
* In October, [[Earth:MOSAiC Expedition|MOSAiC]], the largest-ever ($177 million) [[Earth:List of Arctic expeditions|Arctic science expedition]], completed a nearly 13-month mission, the research vessel ''Polarstern'' having been purposely locked in an Arctic ice floe and collecting more than 150 terabytes of data and 1,000 ice samples.<ref name=Smithsonian_20201015/>
* The Korea Superconducting [[Physics:Tokamak|Tokamak]] Advanced Research ([[Physics:KSTAR|KSTAR]]) superconducting fusion device maintained a core condition in eventually generating [[Physics:Fusion power|fusion power]], maintaining plasma at an ion temperature exceeding 100 million °C. (180 million °F) for a record 20 seconds.<ref name=PhysOrg_20201224/>

===Political, economic, cultural actions===
[[File:2011- Renewable energy capacity - International Energy Agency.svg|thumb| upright=1.5 | Renewable energy capacity additions in 2020 expanded by more than 45% from 2019, including a 90% rise in global wind capacity (green) and a 23% expansion of new solar photovoltaic installations (yellow).<ref name=IEA_20210511/><ref name=IEA_202306>Source for data beginning in 2017: {{cite web |title=Renewable Energy Market Update Outlook for 2023 and 2024 |url=https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/63c14514-6833-4cd8-ac53-f9918c2e4cd9/RenewableEnergyMarketUpdate_June2023.pdf |website=IEA.org |publisher=International Energy Agency (IEA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711115355/https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/63c14514-6833-4cd8-ac53-f9918c2e4cd9/RenewableEnergyMarketUpdate_June2023.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2023 |page=19 |date=June 2023 |quote=IEA. CC BY 4.0. |url-status=live}} ● Source for data through 2016: {{cite web |title=Renewable Energy Market Update / Outlook for 2021 and 2022 |url=https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/18a6041d-bf13-4667-a4c2-8fc008974008/RenewableEnergyMarketUpdate-Outlookfor2021and2022.pdf |website=IEA.org |publisher=International Energy Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325084025/https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/18a6041d-bf13-4667-a4c2-8fc008974008/RenewableEnergyMarketUpdate-Outlookfor2021and2022.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2023 |page=8 |date=May 2021 |url-status=live |quote=IEA. Licence: CC BY 4.0 }}</ref>]]
* In February, 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for a second time, having also received a nomination the preceding year.<ref name=Reuters_20200226/>
* By April, the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the postponement of the COP26 climate change conference from November 2020 to the following year.<ref name=WashPost_20200401/>
* In April, Austria and Sweden closed their last coal-fired power plants.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=21 of PDF }}
* In May, the Energy Information Administration announced that U.S. annual energy consumption from renewable sources exceeded coal consumption for the first time since before 1885.<ref name=EIA_RenewableVsCoal_20200528/>
* In the first half of 2020, the EU generated 40% of its electricity from renewables, and 34% from fossil fuels.<ref name=BBC_20201211/>
* On 14 October, a strategic alliance in Peru announced a climate commitment to make [[Astronomy:Machu Picchu|Machu Picchu]] the first of the New Seven Wonders of the World and the first international tourism destination to obtain carbon neutral certification.<ref name=UNWTO_2020/>
* After October's Hurricane Delta struck Puerto Morelos, Mexico, an insurance company issued a payout (17 million pesos, or US$850,000) on a policy covering a coral reef.<ref name=NYTimes_InsuredReef_20201205/> The policy was taken out to cover damages from hurricanes whose severity was expected to increase due to climate change.<ref name=NYTimes_InsuredReef_20201205/>
* 4 November 2020 marked the completion of the process by which U.S. President Trump withdrew the country from the Paris climate agreement, the U.S. becoming the only country in the world to do so.<ref name=Vox_20201106/> President-elect Joe Biden vowed to recommit to the Paris accord on the first day of his presidency.<ref name=Vox_20201106/>
* On 27 November, Tasmanian minister for energy Guy Barnett announced that the Australian island state had achieved 100% self-sufficiency in renewable energy.<ref name=Barnett_20201127/>
[[File:20210125 Europe Power Sector - Renewables vs Fossil Fuels - Climate change.svg|thumb|upright=1.5| In 2020, renewables overtook fossil fuels as the European Union's main source of electricity for the first time.<ref name=EmberEUpower_20210125/>]]
* On 3 December, the {{wipe|Denmark}} government voted to immediately end new oil and gas exploration in the Danish North Sea as part of a plan to phase out fossil fuel extraction by 2050, guaranteeing an end to Denmark's fossil fuel production.<ref name=Guardian_20201204/> Denmark's vote followed similar actions by France (2017) and New Zealand (2018).<ref name=Guardian_20201204/>
* 12 December 2020 was the fifth anniversary of the 2015 Paris Agreement; countries review and update their national commitments every 5 years.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=2 of PDF }}
* In December, the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative—involving 30 fund management companies managing $9 trillion—pledged investment portfolios to be [[Chemistry:Carbon neutrality|carbon-neutral]] by 2050.<ref name=Bloomberg_20201216/>
* 2020 was the first year in which renewables overtook fossil fuels as the European Union's main source of electricity.<ref name=EmberEUpower_20210125/>
* Corporate declarations to partially or totally divest from fossil fuel companies were made by New York state pension fund ($226 billion), Sweden's pension fund AP2 ($43 billion), all six major U.S. banks (re Arctic drilling), Cambridge University's endowment ($4.5 billion), twelve large cities (totaling $295 billion), the U.K. National Employment Savings Trust (pension fund), Minnesota's pension fund ($4 billion), University of California ($126 billion), Cornell University endowment ($9.6 billion), Oxford University endowment ($3.7 billion), Denmark's ATP pension fund ($133 billion), and [[Company:BlackRock|BlackRock]].<ref name=MSNBC_20210111/>

===Mitigation goal statements===
* In January, the U.K.'s National Health Service announced its commitment to become the world's first [[Chemistry:Carbon neutrality|net zero]] health system.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=26 of PDF (Panel 4)}}
* In September, the government of China said it would achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.<ref name=NYTimes_20201212/>
* On 28 October, South Korea president Moon Jae-in declared that the country—with only 6% of its electricity generated by renewables-would go carbon neutral by 2050, following similar declarations in Japan (earlier in the week) and the European Union (2019).<ref name=Guardian_20201028/>
* Before the November 2020 U.S. presidential election, Joe Biden called climate change an existential threat to health, the economy and national security, proposing to make the U.S. carbon neutral by 2050; incumbent Donald Trump continued to question climate science, actually promoting fossil fuels.<ref name=NPR_Biden_Trump_20201022/>
* A 2 December United Nations report stated that at least 113 nations had pledged [[Chemistry:Carbon neutrality|carbon neutrality]] by 2050, and that by early 2021, countries representing more than 65% of global {{CO2}} emissions and more than 70% of the world economy, will have made ambitious commitments to carbon neutrality; and that 186 parties to the Paris Agreement had already developed NDCs.<ref name=UN_20201202/>
* On 4 December, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a target to reduce the UK's greenhouse gas emissions by 68% (previously 53%) by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, the government announcement saying the target "commits the UK to cutting emissions at the fastest rate of any major economy so far".<ref name=UKgovt_20201203/>
* On 11 December, [[Social:European Union|EU]] leaders agreed to reduce greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030 (measured against 1990 {{CO2}} emission levels); the European Parliament had called for a 60% cut, and Greenpeace and [[Organization:Friends of the Earth Europe|Global 2000]], 65%.<ref name=BBC_20201211/>
* On  12 December, UN secretary general António Guterres told world leaders at the Climate Ambition Summit that they should all [[Earth:Climate emergency declaration|declare a state of climate emergency]] until the world reaches net-zero {{CO2}} emissions (only about 38 had already made such declarations).<ref name=Guardian_20201212/> Guterres noted that [[Organization:G20|G20]] countries were spending 50% more in their COVID-19 stimulus packages on fossil fuels and {{CO2}}-intensive sectors than they were on low-{{CO2}} energy.<ref name=Guardian_20201212/>
* At the 12 December Climate Ambition Summit, China's leader [[Biography:Xi Jinping|Xi Jinping]] said that by 2030, China would reduce its carbon intensity by over 65 percent.<ref name=NYTimes_20201212/>

===Adaptation goal statements===
* At least 51 countries had developed plans for national health system adaptation planning.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=2 of PDF }} However, only 9% of countries reported having the funds to fully implement their plans.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=16 of PDF }}
* May 2021: A [[Company:Carbon Disclosure Project|Carbon Disclosure Project]] survey found that in 2020, about 43% of 800 surveyed cities (combined population: 400 million) did not have a climate adaptation plan.<ref name=Guardian_20210512/>

==Projections==
* 15 January publication: The [[Organization:World Economic Forum|World Economic Forum]] listed top 10 risks over the next 10 years by ''likelihood'' (extreme weather as #1, climate action failure as #2, human-made environmental disasters as #5) and by ''impact'' (climate action failure as #1, extreme weather as #4, human-made environmental disasters as #9).{{sfn|Edmond|2020}}
* 26 May publication: A study published in the ''PNAS'' projected that in a business-as-usual scenario, the geographical position of humans' temperature niche will shift more over the next 50 years than it has in the past 6000 years, and that one third of the global population will experience a mean annual temperature currently found in only 0.8% of the Earth's land surface.<ref name=PNAS_20200526/>
* 22 July publication: A review conducted under the [[Organization:World Climate Research Programme|World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)]] projected [[Earth:Climate sensitivity|climate sensitivity]]—the range of global warming to be expected from a doubling of {{CO2}} concentration—to be 2.6—3.9&nbsp;°C (4.7—7.0&nbsp;°F), narrower than longstanding (1979+) estimates of about 1.5—4.5&nbsp;°C (2.7—8.1&nbsp;°F).<ref name=Sherwood_Sensitivity_2020/>
* 2 December publication: It was projected that to reach the Paris Climate Accord's 1.5&nbsp;°C target, the 56 gigatonnes of {{CO2}} equivalent (GtCO2e) emitted in 2020 would need to drop to 25 GtCO2e by 2030, requiring a 7.6% reduction every year—an increase in national government ambition of a factor of five.{{sfn |Watts|Amann|Arnell|Ayeb-Karlsson |2020 |p=2 of PDF }}
* 9 December publication: The U.N.'s ''Emissions Gap<ref group=Note name=Emissions_Gap/> Report 2020'' stated that, by 2030, annual emissions would need to be 15<sup>(range: 12–19)</sup> GtCO2e lower than current unconditional NDCs imply for a 2&nbsp;°C goal, and 32<sup>(range: 29–36)</sup> GtCO2e lower for the 1.5&nbsp;°C goal.{{sfn|UNEP, UNEP DTU Partnership|2020|loc=Exec. Summ. § 6}} Current NDCs were said to "remain seriously inadequate to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and would lead to a temperature increase of at least 3°C by the end of the century".{{sfn|UNEP, UNEP DTU Partnership|2020|loc=Exec. Summ. § 7 }}

==Significant publications==
* {{cite web |author1=UNEP, UNEP DTU Partnership, World Adaptation Science Programme (WASP) |title=Adaptation Gap Report 2020 |url=https://www.unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2020 |website=UNEP.org |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111185323/https://www.unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2020 |archive-date=11 January 2021 |date=January 2021 |url-status=live }} (has link to PDF download)
* {{cite web |author1=UNEP, UNEP DTU Partnership |title=Emissions Gap Report 2020 |url=https://www.unep.org/emissions-gap-report-2020 |website=UNEP.org |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209220237/https://www.unep.org/emissions-gap-report-2020 |archive-date=9 December 2020 |date=9 December 2020 |quote=Yearly review of the difference between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Watts |first1=Nick |last2=Amann |first2=Markus |last3=Arnell |first3=Nigel |last4=Ayeb-Karlsson |first4=Sonja |last5=Beagley |first5=Jessica |last6=Belesova |first6=Kristine |display-authors=4 | title=The 2020 report of ''The Lancet'' Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises |journal=The Lancet |date=2 December 2020 |volume=397 |issue=10269 |pages=129–170 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32290-X |pmid=33278353 |s2cid=227250862 |url=https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/169061/1/The_2020_Report_of_the_Lancet_Countdown_revised_clean_1_.docx |doi-access=free |hdl=10278/3733808 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{ cite web |title= Arctic Report Card: Update for 2020 / The sustained transformation to a warmer, less frozen and biologically changed Arctic remains clear |url=https://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Portals/7/ArcticReportCard/Documents/ArcticReportCard_full_report2020.pdf |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |website=arctic.NOAA.gov |date=December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208172118/https://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Portals/7/ArcticReportCard/Documents/ArcticReportCard_full_report2020.pdf |archive-date=8 December 2020 |url-status=live }} The "Report Card" includes:
::* {{cite journal |last1=Perovich |first1=D. |last2=Meier |first2=W. |last3=Tschudi |first3=M. |last4=Hendricks |first4=S. |last5=Divine |first5=D. |last6=Farrell |first6=S. |last7=Gerland |first7=S. |display-authors=4 |title=Sea ice |url=https://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card/Report-Card-2020/ArtMID/7975/ArticleID/891/Sea-Ice |website=NOAA.gov |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208170251/https://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card/Report-Card-2020/ArtMID/7975/ArticleID/891/Sea-Ice |archive-date=8 December 2020 |doi=10.25923/n170-9h57 |date=December 2020 |url-status=live }}
::* {{cite journal |last1=York |first1=A. |last2=Bhatt |first2=U.S. |last3=Gargulinski |first3=E. |last4=Grabinski |first4=Z. |last5=Jain |first5=P. |last6=Soja |first6=A. |last7=Thoman |first7=R. L. |last8=Ziel |first8=R. |display-authors=4 |title=Wildland Fire in High Northern Latitudes |url=https://arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card/Report-Card-2020/ArtMID/7975/ArticleID/903/Wildland-Fire-in-High-Northern-Latitudes |website=NOAA.gov |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210215525/https://arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card/Report-Card-2020/ArtMID/7975/ArticleID/903/Wildland-Fire-in-High-Northern-Latitudes |archive-date=10 December 2020 |doi=10.25923/2gef-3964 |date=December 2020 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |last1=Edmond |first1=Charlotte |title=These are the top risks facing the world in 2020 |url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/top-global-risks-report-climate-change-cyberattacks-economic-political/ |website=WEForum.org |publisher=World Economic Forum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129191953/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/top-global-risks-report-climate-change-cyberattacks-economic-political/ |archive-date=29 November 2020 |date=15 January 2020 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last1=Larson |first1=Eric |last2=Grieg |first2=Chris |last3=Jenkins |first3=Jesse |last4=Mayfield |first4=Erin |last5=Pascale |first5=Andrew |last6=Zhang |first6=Chuan |last7=Drossman |first7=Joshua |last8=Williams |first8=Robert |last9=Pacala |first9=Seve |last10=Socolow |first10=Robert |display-authors=4 |title=Net-Zero America: Potential Pathways, Infrastructure and Impacts |url=https://environmenthalfcentury.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf331/files/2020-12/Princeton_NZA_Interim_Report_15_Dec_2020_FINAL.pdf |website=Princeton.edu |publisher=Princeton University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302020910/https://environmenthalfcentury.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf331/files/2020-12/Princeton_NZA_Interim_Report_15_Dec_2020_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2021 |date=15 December 2020 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |title=The Sixth Status of Corals of the World: 2020 Report |url=https://gcrmn.net/2020-report/ |website=GCRMN.net |publisher=Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005143119/https://gcrmn.net/2020-report/ |archive-date=5 October 2021 |date=October 2021 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=State of the Climate in Africa 2020 (WMO-No. 1275) |url=https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10833 |website=WMO.int |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019203439/https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10833 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |date=19 October 2021 |url-status=live}}

==See also==
* 2020 in the environment and environmental sciences
* [[Earth:Climatology#History|Climatology § History]]
* [[Earth:History of climate change policy and politics|History of climate change policy and politics]]
* [[Earth:History of climate change science|History of climate change science]]
* [[Earth:Politics of climate change#History|Politics of climate change § History]]

==Notes==
{{reflist | group=Note | refs=

<ref group=Note name=Emissions_Gap>The U.N. ''Emission Gap Report 2020'' defines ''emissions gap for 2030'' as "the difference between global total [[Chemistry:Greenhouse gas|GHG]] emissions from least-cost scenarios that keep global warming to 2°C, 1.8°C or 1.5°C with varying levels of likelihood and the estimated global total GHG emissions resulting from a full implementation of the NDCs".</ref>

<ref group=Note name=Alaska_earthquakes>The 19 March 2021 ''Forbes'' article quoted AGU article author Chris Rollins describing how "there are two components to the uplift. There's what's called the 'elastic effect', which is when the earth instantly springs back up after an ice mass is removed. Then there's the prolonged effect from the mantle flowing back upwards under the vacated space."</ref>

}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs=

<ref name=AmGeophysUnion_20201211><br>● {{cite journal |last1=Rollins |first1=Chris |last2=Freymueller |first2=Jeffrey T. |last3=Sauber |first3=Jean M. |title=Stress Promotion of the 1958 Mw~7.8 Fairweather Fault Earthquake and Others in Southeast Alaska by Glacial Isostatic Adjustment and Inter-earthquake Stress Transfer |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |date=11 December 2020 |volume=126 |issue=1 |page=e2020JB020411 |doi=10.1029/2020JB020411 |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JB020411 |publisher=American Geophysical Union|s2cid=230602951 |doi-access=free }}
<br>● {{cite magazine |last1=Bressan |first1=David |title=Melting Glaciers Contribute To Alaska Earthquakes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2021/03/19/melting-glaciers-contribute-to-alaska-earthquakes/ |magazine=Forbes |date=19 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319122350/https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2021/03/19/melting-glaciers-contribute-to-alaska-earthquakes/ |archive-date=19 March 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Barnett_20201127>{{cite web |last1=Barnett |first1=Guy |title=Tasmania surges to 100% renewable energy |url=http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/site_resources_2015/additional_releases/mona_re-opening_welcome_news_for_tasmania/$16_million_to_boost_tasmanian_recycling_infrastructure/eat_it_tassie!_campaign_launch/additional_funding_to_integrate_mental_health_services/labors_tireless_negativity/tasmania_surges_to_100_renewable_energy |website=tas.gov.au |publisher=Government of Tasmania |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127053842/http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/site_resources_2015/additional_releases/mona_re-opening_welcome_news_for_tasmania/$16_million_to_boost_tasmanian_recycling_infrastructure/eat_it_tassie!_campaign_launch/additional_funding_to_integrate_mental_health_services/labors_tireless_negativity/tasmania_surges_to_100_renewable_energy |archive-date=27 November 2020 |date=27 November 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=BBC_20201211>{{cite news |title=Climate change: EU leaders set 55% target for CO2 emissions cut |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55273004 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=11 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212145007/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55273004 |archive-date=12 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Bloomberg_20201216>{{cite news |last1=Quinson |first1=Tim |title=Money Managers Pledge to Hit Net Zero. Now the Hard Part |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/money-managers-pledge-net-zero-now-the-hard-part-green-insight |work=Bloomberg |date=16 December 2020 }}<!-- Wayback Machine archiving failed --></ref>

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<ref name=EIA_RenewableVsCoal_20200528>{{cite web |title=U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years |url=https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=43895 |website=EIA.gov |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128051709/https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=43895 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |date=28 May 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=EmberEUpower_20210125>{{cite web |title=The European Power Sector in 2020 / Up-to-Date Analysis on the Electricity Transition |url=https://ember-climate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Report-European-Power-Sector-in-2020.pdf |website=ember-climate.org |publisher=Ember and Agora Energiewende |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125215659/https://ember-climate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Report-European-Power-Sector-in-2020.pdf |archive-date=25 January 2021 |date=25 January 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Ember_20200813>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Dave |last2=Graham |first2=Euan |last3=Tunbridge |first3=Pete |title=Wind And Solar Now Generate One-Tenth Of Global Electricity / Global half-year electricity analysis |url=https://ember-climate.org/project/global-electricity-h12020/ |website=ember-climate.org  |publisher=Ember |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814135452/https://ember-climate.org/project/global-electricity-h12020/ |archive-date=14 August 2020 |date=13 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=Filkov_202009>{{cite journal |last1=Filkov |first1=Alexander I. |last2=Ngo |first2=Tuan |last3=Matthews |first3=Stuart |last4=Telfer |first4=Simeon |last5=Penman |first5=Trent D. |title=Impact of Australia's catastrophic 2019/20 bushfire season on communities and environment. Retrospective analysis and current trends |journal=Journal of Safety Science and Resilience |date=September 2020 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=44–56 |doi=10.1016/j.jnlssr.2020.06.009 |doi-access=free |hdl=11343/241506 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=Guardian_20201028>{{cite news |last1=McCurry |first1=Justin |title=South Korea vows to go carbon neutral by 2050 to fight climate emergency |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/28/south-korea-vows-to-go-carbon-neutral-by-2050-to-fight-climate-emergency |work=The Guardian |date=28 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028072602/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/28/south-korea-vows-to-go-carbon-neutral-by-2050-to-fight-climate-emergency |archive-date=28 October 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Guardian_20210131>{{cite news |last1=McKie |first1=Robin |title=Extraordinary voyage: on the trail of the trillion-tonne runaway iceberg |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/31/extraordinary-voyage-on-the-trail-of-the-trillion-tonne-runaway-iceberg |work=The Guardian |date=31 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131204404/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/31/extraordinary-voyage-on-the-trail-of-the-trillion-tonne-runaway-iceberg |archive-date=31 January 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Guardian_20201204>{{cite news |last1=Ambrose |first1=Jillian |title=Denmark to end new oil and gas exploration in North Sea |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/04/denmark-to-end-new-oil-and-gas-exploration-in-north-sea |work=The Guardian |date=4 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207064404/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/04/denmark-to-end-new-oil-and-gas-exploration-in-north-sea |archive-date=7 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Guardian_20201212>{{cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Fiona |title=UN secretary general urges all countries to declare climate emergencies |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/12/un-secretary-general-all-countries-declare-climate-emergencies-antonio-guterres-climate-ambition-summit |work=The Guardian |date=12 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212212604/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/12/un-secretary-general-all-countries-declare-climate-emergencies-antonio-guterres-climate-ambition-summit |archive-date=12 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Guardian_20210512>{{cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Fiona |title=One in four cities cannot afford climate crisis protection measures – study |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/12/one-in-four-cities-cannot-afford-climate-crisis-protection-measures-study |work=The Guardian |date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512042605/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/12/one-in-four-cities-cannot-afford-climate-crisis-protection-measures-study |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=IEA_20210511>{{cite web |title=Renewable Energy Market Update 2021 / Renewable electricity / Renewables deployment geared up in 2020, establishing a "new normal" for capacity additions in 2021 and 2022 |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/renewable-energy-market-update-2021/renewable-electricity |website=IEA.org |publisher=International Energy Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511221837/https://www.iea.org/reports/renewable-energy-market-update-2021/renewable-electricity |archive-date=11 May 2021 |date=May 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=InsideClimateNews_20210914>{{cite web |last1=Gustin |first1=Georgina |title=Killings of Environmental Advocates Around the World Hit a Record High in 2020 |url=https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14092021/environmental-advocates-murdered-hit-record-high-2020/ |website=InsideClimateNews.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914093506/https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14092021/environmental-advocates-murdered-hit-record-high-2020/ |archive-date=14 September 2021 |date=14 September 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=Khaykin_20200921>{{cite journal |last1=Khaykin |first1=S. |last2=Legras |first2=B. |last3=Bucci |first3=S. |last4=Sellitto |first4=P. |last5=Isaksen |first5=L. |last6=Tencé |first6=F. |last7=Bekki |first7=S. |last8=Bourassa |first8=A. |last9=Rieger |first9=L. |last10=Zawada |first10=D. |last11=Jumelet |first11=J. |last12=Godin-Beekmann |first12=S. |title=The 2019/20 Australian wildfires generated a persistent smoke-charged vortex rising up to 35 km altitude |journal=Commun Earth Environ |date=21 September 2020 |volume=1 |issue=22 |page=22 |doi=10.1038/s43247-020-00022-5|arxiv=2006.07284 |bibcode=2020ComEE...1...22K |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=MSNBC_20210111>{{cite news |last1=Atkin |first1=Emily |title=One of Trump's most significant failures is a massive win for the climate movement |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/one-trump-s-most-significant-failures-massive-win-climate-moment-n1253724 |work=MSNBC |date=11 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114033540/https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/one-trump-s-most-significant-failures-massive-win-climate-moment-n1253724 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=NCEI_thru202009>{{cite journal |title=Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Overview / 2020 in Progress |url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/ |website=NCDC.NOAA |publisher=National Centers for Environmental Information (NCDC, part of NOAA) |access-date=11 December 2020 |doi=10.25921/stkw-7w73 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210044128/https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/ |archive-date=10 December 2020 |date=December 2020 |url-status=live|last1=Smith |first1=Adam B. |author2=NOAA National Centers For Environmental Information}} and {{cite web |title=Contiguous U.S. ranked fifth warmest during 2020; Alaska experienced its coldest year since 2012 / 2020 Billion Dollar Disasters and Other Notable Extremes |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202012 |website=NCEI.NOAA.gov |publisher=NOAA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108185719/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202012 |archive-date=8 January 2021 |date=January 2021 |url-status=live }} For 2021 data: {{cite web |title=Calculating the Cost of Weather and Climate Disasters / Seven things to know about NCEI's U.S. billion-dollar disasters data |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/calculating-cost-weather-and-climate-disasters |website=ncei.noaa.gov |date=6 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111143455/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/calculating-cost-weather-and-climate-disasters |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=NASAvitals_20201231>{{cite web |title=Global Climate Change / Vital Signs of the Planet |url=https://climate.nasa.gov/ |website=climate.NASA.gov |publisher=NASA |date=31 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231072829/https://climate.nasa.gov/ |archive-date=31 December 2020 }}</ref> <!-- The only link should be to the ARCHIVE of 31 Dec 2020 . . . Do NOT insert the today's 'live' link -->

<ref name=NASAGISS_20210114>{{cite web |title=2020 Tied for Warmest Year on Record, NASA Analysis Shows |url=https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20210114/ |website=GISS.NASA.gov |publisher=Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114211700/https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20210114/ |archive-date=14 January 2021 |date=14 January 2021 |url-status=live |quote= NOAA scientists use much of the same raw temperature data (as NASA) in their analysis, but have a different baseline period (1901-2000) and methodology. . (details). . The GISS temperature analysis (GISTEMP) is accurate to within 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit with a 95 percent confidence level for the most recent period.}}</ref>

<ref name=PNAS_20200526>{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Chi |last2=Kohler |first2=Timothy A. |last3=Lenton |first3=Timothy M. |last4=Svenning |first4=Jens-Christian |last5=Scheffer |first5=Marten |title=Future of the human climate niche |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=26 May 2020 |volume=117 |issue=21 |pages=11350–11355 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1910114117 |pmid=32366654 |pmc=7260949 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11711350X |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=NatGeo_20201110>{{cite magazine |last1=Gibbens |first1=Sarah |title=Did climate change drive 2020's epic hurricane season? It's complicated. |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2020/11/did-climate-change-drive-2020-historic-hurricane-season/ |magazine=National Geographic |date=10 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120200146/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2020/11/did-climate-change-drive-2020-historic-hurricane-season/ |archive-date=20 November 2020 |url-status=dead }} ● Increasing sea temperatures—which cause both increased rainfall and [[Earth:Rapid intensification|rapid storm intensification]]—are attributed to the [[Earth:Atlantic multidecadal oscillation|Atlantic multidecadal oscillation]], indirect effects La Niña in the Pacific, and long-term effects of climate change.</ref>

<ref name=NatureComms_20220412>{{cite journal |last1=Reed |first1=Kevin A. |last2=Wehner |first2=Michael F. |last3=Zarzycki |first3=Colin M. |title=Attribution of 2020 hurricane season extreme rainfall to human-induced climate change |journal=Nature Communications |date=12 April 2022 |volume=13 |issue=1905 |page=1905 |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-29379-1 |pmid=35414063 |pmc=9005694 |bibcode=2022NatCo..13.1905R }}</ref>

<ref name=NEJMwildfires_20201126>{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Rongbin |last2=Yu |first2=Pei |last3=Abramson |first3=Michael J. |last4=Johnston |first4=Fay H. |last5=Samet |first5=Jonathan M. |last6=Bell |first6=Michelle L. |last7=Haines |first7=Andy |last8=Ebi |first8=Kristie L |last9=Li |first9=Shanshan |last10=Guo |first10=Yuming |title=Wildfires, Global Climate Change, and Human Health |journal=The New England Journal of Medicine |date=26 November 2020 |volume=383 |issue=22 |pages=2173–2181 |doi=10.1056/NEJMsr2028985 |pmid=33034960 |doi-access=free }} ● Climate change causes summers to be hotter and drier to cause vegetation to become more flammable, causes stronger winds that both provide more oxygen and spread wildfires, increases lightning strikes as an ignition source, and broadens the duration of warm seasons in which wildfires can occur.</ref>

<ref name=NYTimes_InsuredReef_20201205>{{cite news |last1=Einhorn |first1=Catrin |last2=Flavelle |first2=Christopher |title=A Race Against Time to Rescue a Reef From Climate Change |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/climate/Mexico-reef-climate-change.html |work=The New York Times |date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206181333/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/climate/Mexico-reef-climate-change.html |archive-date=6 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=NYTimes_20201212>{{cite news |last1=Sengupta |first1=Somini |title=China, in Nudge to U.S., Makes a New Promise to Tackle Global Warming |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/12/climate/china-xi-greenhouse-gases.html |work=The New York Times |date=12 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212200734/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/12/climate/china-xi-greenhouse-gases.html |archive-date=12 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=NOAAhurricane_20201124>{{cite web |title=Record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season draws to an end |url=https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/record-breaking-atlantic-hurricane-season-draws-to-end |website=NOAA.gov |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201212728/https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/record-breaking-atlantic-hurricane-season-draws-to-end |archive-date=1 December 2020 |date=24 November 2020 |url-status=live }} ● 2020 was the fifth consecutive year with an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with 18 above-normal seasons out of the preceding 26.</ref>

<ref name=NOAA_20210114>{{cite web |title=2020 was Earth's 2nd-hottest year, just behind 2016 |url=https://www.noaa.gov/news/2020-was-earth-s-2nd-hottest-year-just-behind-2016 |website=NOAA.gov |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214004/https://www.noaa.gov/news/2020-was-earth-s-2nd-hottest-year-just-behind-2016 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |date=14 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=NPR_Biden_Trump_20201022>{{cite web |last1=Brady |first1=Jeff |title=There's A Lot At Stake For The Climate In The 2020 Election |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/10/22/925468716/theres-a-lot-at-stake-for-the-climate-in-the-2020-election |website=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202045043/https://www.npr.org/2020/10/22/925468716/theres-a-lot-at-stake-for-the-climate-in-the-2020-election |archive-date=2 December 2020 |date=22 October 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=PhysOrg_20201224>{{cite web |author1=National Research Council of Science & Technology |title=Korean artificial sun sets the new world record of 20-sec-long operation at 100 million degrees |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-12-korean-artificial-sun-world-sec-long.amp |website=phys.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224181117/https://phys.org/news/2020-12-korean-artificial-sun-world-sec-long.amp |archive-date=24 December 2020 |date=24 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Reuters_20200226>{{cite news |last1=Solsvik |first1=Terje |title=Climate activist Thunberg heads growing field of Nobel Peace Prize candidates |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nobel-prize-peace/climate-activist-thunberg-heads-growing-field-of-nobel-peace-prize-candidates-idUSKCN20K2HK |work=Reuters |date=26 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110192202/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nobel-prize-peace/climate-activist-thunberg-heads-growing-field-of-nobel-peace-prize-candidates-idUSKCN20K2HK |archive-date=10 November 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Reuters_20201218>{{cite news |last1=Garrison |first1=Cassandra |title=Massive iceberg pivots, breaks near south Atlantic penguin colony island |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-iceberg/massive-iceberg-pivots-breaks-near-south-atlantic-penguin-colony-island-idUKKBN28S2P9 |work=Reuters |date=18 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218191502/https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-iceberg/massive-iceberg-pivots-breaks-near-south-atlantic-penguin-colony-island-idUKKBN28S2P9 |archive-date=18 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Sherwood_Sensitivity_2020>{{cite journal |last1=Sherwood |first1=S. C. |last2=Webb |first2=M. J. |last3=Annan |first3=J. D. |last4=Armour |first4=K. C. |last5=Forster |first5=P. M. |display-authors=4 |title=An Assessment of Earth's Climate Sensitivity Using Multiple Lines of Evidence |journal=Reviews of Geophysics |date=22 July 2020 |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=e2019RG000678 |doi=10.1029/2019RG000678 |pmid=33015673 |pmc=7524012 |bibcode=2020RvGeo..5800678S |ref=e2019RG000678 |quote=A [[Bayesian probability|Bayesian]] calculation finds a 66% range of 2.6–3.9 K, which remains within the bounds 2.3–4.5 K under plausible robustness tests.|doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=Smithsonian_20201015>{{cite magazine |last1=Fox |first1=Alex |title=Largest Arctic Expedition Ever Comes to a Close / The German Research Vessel ''Polarstern'' came back into port after more than a year floating amid the diminishing Arctic sea ice |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/largest-arctic-expedition-ever-comes-close-180976061/ |magazine=Smithsonian |date=15 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106043046/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/largest-arctic-expedition-ever-comes-close-180976061/ |archive-date=6 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=UKgovt_20201203>{{cite web |title=UK sets ambitious new climate target ahead of UN Summit |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sets-ambitious-new-climate-target-ahead-of-un-summit |website=gov.uk |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215152239/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sets-ambitious-new-climate-target-ahead-of-un-summit |archive-date=15 December 2020 |date=3 December 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=UN_20201202>{{cite web |title=The race to zero emissions, and why the world depends on it |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1078612 |website=news.UN.org |publisher=United Nations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103200837/https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1078612 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |date=2 December 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=UNODRR_20210400>{{cite web |title=2020: The Non-COVID Year in Disasters |url=https://www.undrr.org/publication/2020-non-covid-year-disasters |website=undrr.org |publisher=United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422123321/https://www.undrr.org/publication/2020-non-covid-year-disasters |archive-date=22 April 2021 |date=April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=UNWTO_2020>{{cite web |title=Machu Picchu: The First Carbon Neutral Wonder of the World |url=https://www.unwto.org/covid-19-oneplanet-responsible-recovery-initiatives/machu-picchu-world-s-first-carbon-neutral-wonder |website=United Nations World Tourism Organization |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116224007/https://www.unwto.org/covid-19-oneplanet-responsible-recovery-initiatives/machu-picchu-world-s-first-carbon-neutral-wonder |archive-date=16 January 2021 |date=2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name=vanOldenborgh_20200311>{{cite journal |last1=van Oldenborgh |first1=G. J. |last2=Krikken |first2=F. |last3=Lewis |first3=S. |last4=Leach |first4=N. J. |last5=Lehner |first5=F. |last6=Saunders |first6=K. R. |last7=van Weele |first7=M. |last8=Haustein |first8=K. |last9=Li |first9=S. |last10=Wallom |first10=D. |last11=Sparrow |first11=S. |last12=Arrighi |first12=J |last13=Singh |first13=R. P. |last14=van Aalst |first14=M. K. |last15=Philip |first15=S. Y. |last16=Vautard |first16=R. |last17=Otto |first17=F. E. L. |title=Attribution of the Australian bushfire risk to anthropogenic climate change |journal=Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. |date=11 March 2020 |volume=(in review, 2020) |doi=10.5194/nhess-2020-69 |s2cid=215734296 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/475524 |hdl-access=free }} ([https://nhess.copernicus.org/preprints/nhess-2020-69/nhess-2020-69.pdf PDF]) {{nbsp|4}} ● Summarized by same authors in {{cite web |title=Attribution of the Australian bushfire risk to anthropogenic climate change |url=https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/bushfires-in-australia-2019-2020/ |website=WorldWeatherAttribution.org |publisher=World Weather Attribution (WWA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115114606/https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/bushfires-in-australia-2019-2020/ |archive-date=15 November 2020 |date=10 January 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=Vox_20201106>{{cite news |last1=Arvin |first1=Jariel |title=Europe's leaders on climate change are the first to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/11/6/21552901/european-leaders-reaction-biden-election-win-climate-change |work=Vox |date=6 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129152006/https://www.vox.com/2020/11/6/21552901/european-leaders-reaction-biden-election-win-climate-change |archive-date=29 November 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=WashPost_20200401>{{cite news |last1=Dennis |first1=Brady |last2=Mooney |first2=Chris |title=Amid pandemic, U.N. cancels global climate conference |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/04/01/un-climate-coronavirus-cop26/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402010156/https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/04/01/un-climate-coronavirus-cop26/ |archive-date=2 April 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name=WMO_20200716>{{cite news |title=Prolonged Siberian heat "almost impossible without climate change" |url=https://wmo.int/media/news/prolonged-siberian-heat-almost-impossible-without-climate-change |website=WMO.int |publisher=World Meteorological Office (WMO) |date=16 July 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name=WMO_20201123>{{cite web |title=Carbon dioxide levels continue at record levels, despite COVID-19 lockdown |url=https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/carbon-dioxide-levels-continue-record-levels-despite-covid-19-lockdown |website=WMO.int |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |date=23 November 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name=WMO_20201202>{{cite web |title=2020 on track to be one of three warmest years on record |url=https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/2020-track-be-one-of-three-warmest-years-record |website=WMO.int |publisher=World Meteorological Organization (WMO) |date=2 December 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name=WMO_20210701>{{cite web |title=WMO verifies one temperature record for Antarctic continent and rejects another |url=https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-verifies-one-temperature-record-antarctic-continent-and-rejects-another |website=WMO.int |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |date=1 July 2021 }}</ref>

<ref name=WMO_20211214>{{cite web |title=WMO recognizes new Arctic temperature record of 38°C |url=https://public-old.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-recognizes-new-arctic-temperature-record-of-38%E2%81%B0c |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218175743/https://public-old.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-recognizes-new-arctic-temperature-record-of-38%E2%81%B0c |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 December 2023 |website=WMO.int |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |date=14 December 2021 |quote=A temperature of 38°C (100.4°F) in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk on 20 June 2020 has been recognized as a new Arctic temperature record by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). . . . Press Release Number: 14122021 }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
===Organizations===
* [https://www.ipcc.ch/ The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20231128081229/https://public-old.wmo.int/en World Meteorological Organization (WMO)]

===Surveys, summaries, and report lists===
* {{cite web |last1=Hausfather |first1=Zeke |title=State of the climate: 2020 on course to be warmest year on record |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2020-on-course-to-be-warmest-year-on-record |website=CarbonBrief.org |publisher=Carbon Brief |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221123506/https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2020-on-course-to-be-warmest-year-on-record |archive-date=21 December 2020 |date=23 October 2020 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine |title=Articles in 2020 |url=https://www.nature.com/nclimate/articles?year=2020 |magazine=Nature }} <!-- would not archive -->
* {{cite magazine |title=Review Articles in 2020 |url=https://www.nature.com/nclimate/articles?type=review-article&year=2020 |magazine=Nature }} <!-- would not archive -->
* {{cite news |title=The Year in Climate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/2020-climate-change.html |work=The New York Times |date=December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217025637/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/2020-climate-change.html |archive-date=17 December 2020 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=Climate Reports |url=https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/reports |website=UN.org |publisher=United Nations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222062834/https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/reports |archive-date=22 December 2020 |date=December 2020 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last1=Svoboda |first1=Michael |title=13 major climate change reports released so far in 2020 |url=https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/13-major-climate-change-reports-released-so-far-in-2020/ |website=YaleClimateConnections.org |publisher=Yale Climate Connections |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122185020/https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/13-major-climate-change-reports-released-so-far-in-2020/ |archive-date=22 November 2020 |date=19 August 2020 |url-status=live }}

{{Subject bar|wikt=climate change|b=Climate Change|q=Climate change|commons=Category:Climate change|n=Category:Climate change|v=Climate change|s=Climate change}}

[[Category:Climate change]]

{{Sourceattribution|2020 in climate change}}