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A12 SCIENCE
Friday 15 January 2021
Hot again: 2020 sets yet another global temperature record

Last year’s exceptional
By SETH BORENSTEIN heat “is yet another stark
AP Science Writer reminder of the relentless
Earth’s rising fever hit or pace of climate change,
neared record hot temper- which is destroying lives
ature levels in 2020, global and livelihoods across our
weather groups reported planet,” United Nations
Thursday. Secretary-General António
While NASA and a couple Guterres said in a state-
of other measurement ment. “Making peace with
groups said 2020 passed nature is the defining task
or essentially tied 2016 as of the 21st century.”
the hottest year on record, The United States, which
more agencies, includ- had its fifth warmest yea
ing the National Oceanic r, smashed the record for
Atmospheric Administra- the number of weather di-
tion, said last year came sasters that cost at least $1
in a close second or third. billion with 22 of them in
The differences in rankings 2020, including hurricanes,
mostly turned on how sci- wildfires, tornadoes and a
entists accounted for data Midwest derecho. The old
gaps in the Arctic, which record of 16 was set in 2011
is warming faster than the and 2017. This was the sixth
rest of the globe. In this Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. file photo, smoke from California wildfires up to 200 miles away consecutive year with 10 or
obscures the view of traffic traveling on Interstate 80, looking west in Sparks, Nev.
“It’s like the film ‘Ground- Associated Press more billion-dollar climate
hog Day.’ Another year, disasters, with figures ad-
same story — record global NOAA said 2020 averaged cy and Berkeley Earth’s on record have been the justed for inflation.
warmth,” said Pennsylvania 58.77 degrees (14.88 de- monitoring team had 2016 six years since 2015. The 10 Earth has now warmed 1.2
State University climate sci- grees Celsius), a few hun- ahead. warmest have all occurred degrees Celsius (2.2 de-
entist Michael Mann, who dredths of a degree be- First or second rankings re- since 2005, and scientists grees Fahrenheit) since
wasn’t part of the measure- hind 2016. ally don’t matter, “but the say that warming’s driven pre-industrial times and is
ment teams. “As we con- NASA saw 2020 as warmer key thing to take away is by the burning of coal, oil adding another 0.2 de-
tinue to generate carbon than 2016 but so close they that the long-term trends and natural gas. grees Celsius (0.36 Fahren-
pollution, we expect the are essentially tied. The Eu- in temperature are very Temperatures the last six or heit) a decade.
planet to warm up. And ropean Copernicus group very clearly up and up and seven years “really hint at That means the planet is
that’s precisely what we’re also called it an essential tie up,” said Schmidt, who an acceleration in the rise nearing an international
seeing.” for hottest year, with 2016 heads NASA’s Goddard of global temperatures,” warming threshold set in
Scientists said all you had warmer by an insignificant Institute for Space Studies said Russ Vose, analysis Paris in 2015, Vose and
to do was look outside: fraction. Japan’s weather that tracks temperatures. branch chief at NOAA’s Schmidt said. Nations of
“We saw the heat waves. agency put 2020 as warm- “We’re in a position where National Centers for En- the world set a goal of
We saw the fires. We saw er than 2016, but a sepa- we’re pushing the climate vironmental Information. preventing at least 2 de-
the (melting) Arctic,” said rate calculation by Japa- system out of the bounds While temperature increas- grees Celsius (3.6 degrees
NASA top climate scientist nese scientists put 2020 as that it’s been in for tens of es have clearly accelerat- Fahrenheit) of warming,
Gavin Schmidt. “We’re ex- a close third behind 2016 thousands of years, if not ed since the 1980s, it’s too with a tougher secondary
pecting it to get hotter and and 2019. The World Me- millions of years.” early to discern a second goal of limiting warming to
that’s exactly what hap- teorological Organization, All the monitoring agencies and more recent accelera- 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees
pened.” the British weather agen- agree the six warmest years tion, Schmidt said. Fahrenheit).q

Blue Origin launches capsule to space with astronaut perks

By MARCIA DUNN — Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin day to test all the astronaut Ariane Cornell said from day featured the latest
AP Aerospace Writer company launched a new perks before people strap company headquarters in crew upgrades: micro-
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) capsule into space Thurs- in. Thursday’s flight with Kent, Washington. “There’s phones and push-to-talk
a dummy named Man- going to be a lot of fun buttons for the six seats,
nequin Skywalker lasted ahead in 2021.” wall panels to muffle en-
10 minutes and reached Blue Origin plans to launch gine noise, a safety-alert
66 miles (106 kilometers) paying passengers — tour- system, and temperature
above West Texas. Both ists, scientists and profes- and humidity controls to
the New Shepard rocket sional astronauts — on keep passengers comfort-
and the capsule landed brief hops over West Tex- able and the big windows
successfully. as’ remote desert. It’s also free of fog.
It was the 14th flight to the working on a bigger rock- The launch and landing
fringes of space for a New et, New Glenn, that would team was scaled back be-
Shepard rocket. The first blast off from Cape Ca- cause of the pandemic.
was in 2015. naveral as well as a lunar New Shepard is named for
“The success of this flight lander for astronauts under the first American in space,
In this image from video made available by Blue Origin, the puts us one really big step NASA’s Artemis moon pro- Alan Shephard. New Glenn
company’s New Shepard rocket lands after a test flight in West closer to flying astronauts,” gram. honors John Glenn, the first
Texas on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. launch commentator The capsule soaring Thurs-
Associated Press American in orbit.q