Global temperatures in 2020 among highest on record – WMO
TIMOTHY GARDNER Global temperatures in 2020 were among the highest on record and rivaled 2016 as the hottest year ever, according to international data compiled by the World Meteorological Organization and released on Thursday. The heat came even as a global economic slowdown from the COVID-19 pandemic cut deeply into emissions from fossil fuels, adding evidence that carbon dioxide concentrations already in the atmosphere have set the planet on a warming track. The WMO report included data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the UK Met Office, both of which ranked 2020 as the second-warmest year…