CLIMATE CHANGED! It's broken and we have reached the point of no return: Summer 2020 started in early January in parts of Europe and we are still enjoying summer deep into November: 2020 a look back at the record-breaking warmth

Click on image to enlarge, credit Earthwindmap.

2020 has been a shocking year with the Coronavirus taking the limelight as well as over a million lives and the incredible tense election and the civil unrest in the United States. So it may come as a surprise to many of you 2020 has also been a shocking year for our environment too.

Above is a graph, showing the miracle of the Gulf stream in action yesterday, warming, Ireland, the UK and Western Europe. As you can see from the graph the rest of the northern hemisphere along the same parallel as Western Europe are suffering frigid cold this time of the year. Northern US, Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Siberia.

I live on the very Western edge of Europe on the Dutch coast. Yesterday, I had a long stroll in the pleasant sunshine and spent the rest of the day in the garden, the temperature was a pleasant 16 deg C, (61 deg F) but it felt much warmer in the sun. We here in Holland have enjoyed this weather since late October when a number of high-pressure systems have dominated the region. It is a trend which is not making the news and is quite astonishing if not worrying.

The temperature at the moment is almost double what it should be here in my part of the world and what is even more incredible if I tell you summer began here at the beginning of February when temperatures hit 22 deg C, (72 deg F), more than 3 times higher than should be at that time of the year and it isn't a localized thing.

Many parts of Europe smashed summer temps in mid-winter at the beginning of Feb 2020. Puerto De La Cruz topping the list with a mighty, 30 deg C, (86 deg F) and Valencia, both in Spain hitting 29.4 deg C, (85 deg F) almost double the average temperatures for the time of the year.

Extreme warmth across the southern half of Europe brought exceptional temperatures across Spain, southern France, and NW Italy in early February. Dry Foehn winds resulted in extremely high early February values with locally 26-28 °C peak afternoon temperatures. Turin and Cuneo in NW Italy reached almost +27 °C – the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Piedmont region (NW Italy) during winter! Southern Switzerland stopped at +24 °C while Valencia reported +28.4 °C! That is exceptional for this period.

There is a worrying trend here in Western Europe during the last five years; January has become February, February has become March. March has become April and April has become May. In turn, May has become June and June has become July. July itself has become July on steroids. August has become July, September has become August, October has become September November has become October and December has become MILD!

There have been days during the last three summers here in Holland when it was too warm to leave the house. In 2019 we smashed the 40 deg C ceiling, (104 deg F), 2020 saw temperatures hovering just under that. However, the problem here in Holland is the humidity, most days the humidity is in the high 90s% which intensifies the heat making the conditions unbearable.

While Norwegians are usually skiing in early January with temperatures well under zero, parts of the west coast enjoyed an early feel of summer weather thanks to a remarkable rare early January heatwave in 2020. Warm records tumbled as Norway and Scandinavia recorded its warmest January day on record when the mercury hit an astonishing 19 deg C, (66 deg F), an incredible 25 deg C, above the monthly average.

This became Norway's warmest January day since records began. While many were enjoying the warm weather, there are concerns that it is another example of climate change. A few days earlier a new maximum temperature for December was recorded in the UK when a temperature of 18.7 deg C, (66 deg F) was reached at Achfary, in the Highlands of Scotland, the hottest day of December ever recorded in the UK. The old record stands at 18.3 deg C, in Achnashellach in the Highlands on 2 December 1948. In the UK, Hedgehogs and other animals did not hibernate this winter, after ‘unprecedented’ mild weather. the effects and implications of this ‘unheard of’ phenomenon are yet to be discovered, but we should be worried. Reports of frogs and toads still being out in people’s gardens is weird, they should be deep in hibernation because they are cold-blooded animals. It’s absolutely unheard of, reported the Sussex Times.

Meanwhile, Christmas was so mild in Moscow authorities dumped thousands of tons of artificial snow onto the streets of the capitol after the Russian capital city enjoyed its mildest Christmas since 1888.

It's not just Europe who had an incredibly warm beginning to 2020. According to NOAA, all 48 contiguous states saw above- to much-above-average temperatures in January. The new year kicked off with a balmy start for the U.S., making January 2020 the fifth warmest January on the 126-year record. 

Elsewhere,  the Antarctic continent posted a record temperature reading of 18.3°C on the 7th of February 2020. 

By the end of April 2020, NOAA was claiming 2020 has already a 75% chance of being the hottest year ever and knocking 2016 off the top of the list. Disturbing patterns clearly showed the Northern Hemisphere had witnessed its warmest winter ever, as the U.S.  UK and Ireland, Europe and Russia all reported warm or record warmth for winter 2019/20. Across much of the United States, a warming climate had advanced the arrival of spring. Europe recorded one of its mildest winters ever: France warmest winter in 100 years: Germany and Austria had their second warmest winter. Here in Holland once again, we saw no snow and the temp barely dropped under 0 deg C.

The Met Office of the UK claimed that provisional early statistics showed that for the UK as a whole was the sunniest April on record (figures dating back to 1929). Between the 1st and 27th of April 215.8 hours of sunshine have been recorded, nearly 50% above the average for April, and beating the previous record set in 2015 of 211.9 hours of sunshine. This has been the result of persistent high-pressure systems over or close to the UK resulting in an extended spell of fine, dry and sunny weather since late March. The same high-pressure systems are causing the record warm October and November here as I write this.

For most of April 2020, a similar high-pressure system had been situated over the Gulf of Alaska, but shifted into the western Lower 48 states, causing a blistering heatwave which gripped much of the Southwest and spread into the Rockies and Southern Plains, smashing records from California to Texas. 

Into the summer.

The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth! Death Valley reached the second-highest temperature ever in the US on Monday

On the 12th of July, Death Valley in California recorded a temperature of 128 deg F, (53 deg C). According to the Weather and Climate Extremes archive, the hottest temperature ever recorded was in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California at 134.06 deg F, (56.7 deg C) on 10 July 1913, however, some weather historians have questioned the accuracy of old temperature records. Many other states in the US broke heat records too at the beginning of July. A heatwave with Borger in Texas, Springs, California and  Tucson, Arizona all recording temperatures in the high 40s C or 115 F plus.

June 2020 tied as Earth’s 3rd hottest on record. The first half of 2020 saw near-record warmth for the globe. Earth’s persistent warming trend last month vaulted June 2020 to the third-hottest June on record — a tie with 2015. Warm temperatures from January-through-June pushed the year to date to second highest in the 141-year climate record, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

The Koeppen-Geiger classification suggests the climate of The Netherlands can be classified as a warm temperate humid climate with the warmest month lower than 22°C over average and four or more months above 10°C over average. This year, however, our summer arrived in early winter and it just keeps getting warmer. If the trend carries on, we are on course to be subtropical in the next 10 years, a similar climate to North Africa, Southern Spain or Northern Florida.

On the 13th of August along the West coast of Holland where I live, we entered the 10th day in a row when temperatures hit the mid-to-high 30sC (100+F). Because Holland is so humid the actual temperature felt like 50 deg C, 122F and had been mostly unbearable. The evening temperature stayed well above 30 deg C (86+F) rendering sleep almost impossible. This was the second debilitating heatwave we had endured this summer.

Covid-19 increased the sunshine.

The measured solar radiation (sunshine) between mid-March and mid-June was about 3 per cent higher than the average over the same period in the past four years. Since the measures against the spread of the coronavirus were announced, more solar radiation, (sunshine) was able to reach the Earth's surface. This was evident from research by KNMI and TU Delft.

Across the pond, Phoenix set a high-temperature record of 115 degrees F, 46 deg C, for Sept 5th 2020. The baking heat broke the previous record of 113 degrees set in 1945, the National Weather Service said. Sept 5th was the 14th day this year when Phoenix had a high of 115 degrees or more, topping the previous record of seven. 

Tucson reached 107F, 42 deg C tying a 1945 record. The southern Arizona city was expected to break the record later on the 5th of Sept with a high of 108, forecasters said. Both cities and numerous other desert areas in Arizona and southern Nevada were under excessive heat warnings in effect. August in Phoenix was the warmest ever with an average high temperature of 110.7 degrees F 44 deg C and an average low of 99.1 degrees F 37 deg C.

In the middle of August a very dangerous, long-lasting heatwave hit the western United States with temperatures soaring as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal from Arizona through to Washington State. Temperatures approaching 50 deg C (122F) were recorded in the Phoenix area, the city also broke the record for most days with a temperature at or above 115, beating the old record of 7 consecutive days. More than 34 million people were under excessive heat watches and warnings across California and the Southwest.

Remarkably warm October 2020 fueled a march toward 2nd-hottest year ever recorded.

Earth continued to endure exceptional heat last month with October 2020 ranking fourth-hottest October on record. The year to date (January through October) ranked second-hottest for the globe as Arctic sea ice coverage shrank to historic lows for the month, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Below are more highlights from NOAA’s latest monthly global climate report:

Climate by the numbers October 2020

The average global land and ocean surface temperature for October 2020 was 1.53 degrees F (0.85 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average and the fourth-highest October temperature in the 141-year record. The 10-warmest Octobers have occurred since 2005, and the seven warmest have all occurred in the last seven years (2014–2020). Europe had its warmest October on record, which surpassed its previous record set in 2001. South America had its second-warmest October since regional records began in 1910.  

Year to date (YTD) | January through October

The year-to-date global land and ocean surface temperature was 1.80 degrees F — a full 1.00 degree C — above the 20th-century average, making for the second-warmest YTD on record. This was 0.05 of a degree F (0.03 of a degree C) shy of tying the record set in 2016.

Europe and Asia had their warmest YTD period on record, while South America and the Caribbean region had their second warmest. According to a statistical analysis of site link done by NCEI scientists, 2020 is very likely to rank among the three-warmest years on record.

More notable climate events in this report:

Arctic sea ice set a new record low:

October’s Arctic sea ice coverage was 36.8% below the 1981–2010 average, the smallest October extent on record. This surpassed the previous October record-low coverage — set just last year — by 173,700 square miles.

Heat records were set around the world:

Record-warm October temperatures were observed in parts of the northern and western Pacific Ocean; southern North America; South America; Eastern Europe; the northern Middle East; eastern Mediterranean Sea; southern Asia; and in small areas across the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

No land or ocean areas had record-cold October temperatures. October snow cover was abundant: Despite the global warmth, the Northern Hemisphere’s snow cover last month was the 10th-largest October extent in the 53-year record. North America’s snow cover was the largest on record for October.

Climate Change 2020

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