On 14 January, NASA published analysis that shows 2020 was the hottest year on record, exceeding the record set in 2016 by a small margin. In 2020, massive wildfires scorched Australia, Siberia and the USA’s west coast – and many of the fires were still burning during the busiest Atlantic hurricane season on record.

he NASA report confirms that:

Human-produced greenhouse gas emissions are largely responsible for warming our planet. The natural processes Earth has for absorbing carbon dioxide – plants and the ocean – just aren’t enough to keep up with how much carbon dioxide we’re putting into the atmosphere. Climate modelers have predicted that, as the planet warms, Earth will experience more severe heat waves and droughts, larger and more extreme wildfires, and longer and more intense hurricane seasons on average. The events of 2020 are consistent with these predictions.”

Read the NASA report

"A new study from the Met Office Hadley Centre assessed how human-induced climate change has influenced the trend of wet and dry summers in Europe and looked at water availability and rainfall across north and south Europe by the end of the century.

Published in Science Bulletin, the results provide insight as to how communities will need to adapt as they prepare to see deficits in water availability and heatwave-related droughts.

Dr Christidis explains “We are expecting to see significant changes in European summers as a result of human-induced climate change. Summers may become a lot drier and this shift is expected to become more prominent as we move through the century.”

The frequency of wet extremes is also projected to increase as we see drier summers. As more water can be held as a gas in the atmosphere, there is an increased risk of heavier rainfall events, challenging local drainage and storage facilities.

This evidence is consistent with the headline findings from the UKCP18 climate projections, taking the overall effect of anthropogenic climate change into account, drier summers are expected in the UK, with more frequent dry extremes. The findings from this research are important to help the UK plan for future extremes, informing effective adaptation and mitigation strategies to limit impacts of climate change on UK society now and in the future. "

Read more in Science Bulletin
Read more at the Met Office website