Even eight days into a new year, the increasingly omnipresent ghost of 2020 keeps rearing its shit-filled head to remind us of a multifaceted anguish that may never fully subside.
Early Friday, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that—globally speaking—2020 tied with the previous record-holder for the warmest year, 2016.
The unfortunate feat also means that 2020 is the sixth year in a series of "exceptionally warm years" that began in 2015. Furthermore, the period from 2011-2020 is now the warmest decade in recorded history.
Speaking on the message this new batch of data sends about the consistently dire climate situation around the world, Matthias Petschke—the European Commission's Directorate-General for Defense Industry and Space—touted the importance of figuring out a way to unite as a planet behind this cause.
"The extraordinary climate events of 2020 and the data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service show us that we have no time to lose," Petschke said. "We must come together as a global community, to ensure a just transition to a net zero future. It will be difficult, but the cost of inaction is too great, which is why the commitments made under our European Green Deal are so very necessary."
2020 temperatures, for the record, were found to be 0.6 degrees Celsius (1.08 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the average from 1981 to 2010. Temperatures were also 1.25 degrees Celsius (2.25 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the pre-industrial average.
Irrefutable facts, however, have still not squashed the prevalence of rampant science denialism in the U.S. Hopefully, a new administration in the White House can serve as an inspiration point for more industry leaders to lead the charge when it comes to promoting a more planet-friendly lifestyle.
