{"id":153254,"date":"2020-04-07T07:07:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T06:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=153254"},"modified":"2020-04-07T07:07:06","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T06:07:06","slug":"earth-scorched-in-the-first-3-months-of-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=153254","title":{"rendered":"Earth scorched in the first 3 months of 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- m -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5751019935\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p> [ad_1]\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"id_text\">\n<p>The American economy has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2020\/04\/02\/record-unemployment-coronavirus-recession\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seriously sputtered<\/a> during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">coronavirus<\/a> pandemic, but the planet&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/heat-temperature-records-broken-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">relentless warming trend<\/a> hasn&#8217;t.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After Earth experienced its <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/science\/8614\/congratulations-2019-was-the-second-hottest-year-on-record\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">second-hottest year<\/a> in 140 years of record-keeping in 2019, the first few months of this year have either broken historic monthly records, or come close. January 2020 was the <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/climate-change-january-2020-warmest-on-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">warmest January on record<\/a>. February 2020 was the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncdc.noaa.gov\/sotc\/global\/202002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second hottest<\/a> such month on record. And on Monday, the European Union&#8217;s climate monitoring agency EU Copernicus reported that March 2020 was &#8220;on par&#8221; with the <a href=\"https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/surface-air-temperature-march-2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second and third warmest<\/a> Marches on record.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Earth&#8217;s warming atmosphere is reacting to a <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/science\/4286\/since-the-first-earth-day-the-planets-co2-levels-have-gone-o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">skyrocketing rise<\/a> of the potent greenhouse gas carbon dioxide \u2014 now at its highest levels in <a href=\"https:\/\/earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/images\/82142\/global-patterns-of-carbon-dioxide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>at least<\/em> 800,000 years<\/a>, but more likely <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/climate-change-carbon-pollution-15-million-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">millions of years<\/a>. This same gas (though much more of it) is responsible for the <a href=\"https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/planets\/venus\/in-depth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blistering temperatures on Venus<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The continued onslaught of record and near-record global temperatures is a reminder that, while we\u2019re understandably preoccupied with another crisis (the Coronavirus pandemic), a more formidable one in the grand schemes of things looms in the background,&#8221; said climate scientist Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University.<\/p>\n<p>The consequences of a warmer atmosphere are countless. Most glaciers on Earth <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/where-to-see-retreating-glaciers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">are fast receding<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/smokey-bear-climate-change-wildfires-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wildfires are overpowering us<\/a>. Meanwhile, the oceans <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/climate-change-report-oceans-un\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">absorb over 90 percent of the heat<\/a> created by human activities. These boosted, above-average water temperatures amplify the marine heat waves that cause the <a data-mashable-story-id=\"5e8b7842f11b2c3f98000014\" href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/2018\/04\/18\/great-barrier-reef-permanently-changed-2016-heat-wave\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bleaching and widespread deaths of coral<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As I write this sentence, the Great Barrier Reef is suffering its third major bleaching event in the space of five years, an unprecedented and foreboding development,&#8221; said Mann. &#8220;The ever-worsening nature of the climate crisis and the need to address it must guide any policy actions that are taken to address the Coronavirus crisis.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\">\n<p><picture itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><source   type=\"image\/webp\"><\/source><source   type=\"image\/jpeg\"><\/source><img alt=\"February 2020 temperatures.\" class=\"\" data-fragment=\"m!3d2a\" data-image=\"https:\/\/mondrian.mashable.com\/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F1261173%252F6f7b7fd6-df40-48c7-ab10-b895ecb3346c.png%252Ffull-fit-in__1200x2000.png?signature=PAyU32UFZJnTQF8GDkn1huTRTrk=&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com\" data-micro=\"1\"   src_type=\"jpeg\"><\/picture><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>February 2020 temperatures.\n<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><div class=\"image-credit\">\n<p>Image:  NOAA\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"twitter-wrapper sort-rerender\">\n<div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">It\u2019s been a shitty, exhausting day on the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GreatBarrierReef?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#GreatBarrierReef<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I feel like an art lover wandering through the Louvre&#8230;.as it burns to the ground. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I0Mx7epLCe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/I0Mx7epLCe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Terry Hughes (@ProfTerryHughes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProfTerryHughes\/status\/1243117101788721153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 26, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>For example, as the federal government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/us-policy\/2020\/03\/27\/congress-coronavirus-house-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spends over $2 trillion<\/a> to cushion the inevitable health, economic, and environmental blows from the pandemic, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis <a href=\"https:\/\/climatecrisis.house.gov\/news\/press-releases\/chair-castor-committee-members-urge-climate-action-coronavirus-package\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recommends<\/a> investing in public transit and electric vehicle manufacturing to<strong> &#8220;<\/strong>create new jobs and reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector.&#8221; Perhaps this spending will be emphasized in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/30\/us\/politics\/coronavirus-stimulus-relief-congress.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">next major stimulus<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 2 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5511153269\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>It&#8217;s already likely that 2020 will end up as one of the warmest years on record. After an exceptionally warm January, NOAA says there&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncdc.noaa.gov\/sotc\/global\/202002\/supplemental\/page-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">98 percent chance<\/a> of 2020 becoming one of the top five warmest years ever recorded. What&#8217;s more, there&#8217;s not even expected to be an El Ni\u00f1o event this year, which is a large-scale warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean \u2014 which adds warmth to the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Even as the pandemic grips the globe, the climate crisis remains unrelenting, with recent record or near-record temperatures signaling the onset of what might turn out to be the warmest year ever without the extra warming boost of an El Ni\u00f1o,&#8221; said Jon Overpeck, a climate scientist at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>The big picture, however, is already clear:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>The last time Earth had a month of normal temperatures \u2014 compared to the 20th century \u2014 was in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/capital-weather-gang\/wp\/2018\/05\/18\/april-was-earths-400th-warmer-than-normal-month-in-a-row\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 1985<\/a>, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncdc.noaa.gov\/sotc\/global\/202002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data<\/a> collected from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncdc.noaa.gov\/data-access\/land-based-station-data\/land-based-datasets\/global-historical-climatology-network-monthly-version-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">over 25,000 weather stations<\/a> and scrutinized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Nineteen of the last 20 years are now the warmest on record.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The ocean continues to accumulate heat and has <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/ocean-heat-content-rising-atomic-bomb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">warmed relentlessly<\/a> since around 1990.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Though the pandemic \u2014 and the resulting shutdown of businesses amid <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/science\/9571\/the-most-important-thing-to-know-about-social-distancing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">critical social distancing measures<\/a> \u2014 will likely impact global economies enough to slow the continued rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, this slowdown certainly won&#8217;t reverse Earth&#8217;s warming trend. Over the last 150 years or so, humanity has loaded the atmosphere with an enormous &#8220;pile&#8221; of CO2. This <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/science\/9622\/coronavirus-wont-make-a-dent-in-the-climate-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pile won&#8217;t be diminished<\/a>, even by a global recession. Previous crises and recessions failed to stop climate change, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The pile is still there,&#8221; Ralph Keeling, the director of the Scripps CO2 Program at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/science\/9622\/coronavirus-wont-make-a-dent-in-the-climate-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told Mashable<\/a>. &#8220;We&#8217;re not getting rid of the pile.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-wrapper sort-rerender\">\n<div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">CO\u2082 emissions have bounced back after previous global economic crises, &amp; this is likely to be the case for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#COVID19<\/a> (either a fast or slow bounce).<\/p>\n<p>Unless, governments listen this time &amp; invest in climate-friendly infrastructure, technology &amp; practices.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/M5IwEEr8vi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/M5IwEEr8vi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/g10yFliYDg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/g10yFliYDg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Glen Peters (@Peters_Glen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Peters_Glen\/status\/1244172442865672193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 29, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"image\">\n<p><picture itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><source   type=\"image\/webp\"><\/source><source   type=\"image\/jpeg\"><\/source><img alt=\"Skyrocketing atmospheric CO2 rise.\" class=\"\" data-fragment=\"m!7461\" data-image=\"https:\/\/mondrian.mashable.com\/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F1261220%252F8b8c8bf6-88ac-4ff0-89ac-ae871f1231bd.jpg%252Ffull-fit-in__1200x2000.jpg?signature=kvC0gtDE0XSjfMOv7PvTyENrQsI=&amp;source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com\" data-micro=\"1\"   src_type=\"jpeg\"><\/picture><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Skyrocketing atmospheric CO2 rise.\n<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><div class=\"image-credit\">\n<p>Image:  nasa\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Overall, according to EU Copernicus, the last 12 months saw &#8220;few places&#8221; that experienced below-average temperatures, such as central North America and Antarctica.<\/p>\n<p>Climate change is indeed truly global. The last decade, before the coronavirus pandemic began, was the <a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/science\/8698\/nasas-new-video-is-grim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">warmest decade ever recorded<\/a>. And the trend is amplifying. The last five years were the warmest five years on record.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Earth\u2019s climate system and climate scientists are all warning of the worsening climate crisis to come,&#8221; said Overpeck.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>UPDATE: April 6, 2020, 5:25 p.m. EDT <\/strong><\/em><em>This post has been updated to include additional context from climate scientist Jon Overpeck.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"5\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 5 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9258826580\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/science\/9769\/earth-scorched-in-the-first-3-months-of-2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 3 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"2884989920\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] The American economy has seriously sputtered during the coronavirus pandemic, but the planet&#8217;s relentless warming trend hasn&#8217;t.\u00a0 After Earth experienced its second-hottest year in 140 years of record-keeping in 2019, the first few months of this year have either broken historic monthly records, or come close. January 2020 was the warmest January on record. &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=153254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153256,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153254\/revisions\/153256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/153255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=153254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=153254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=153254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}