2020 being the second-warmest year confirms ongoing climate change
Offenbach, 30 December 2020 – With an annual average temperature of 10.4 degrees Celsius (°C), 2020 is the second-warmest year since the beginning of nationwide weather recordings in 1881. Only 2018 was slightly warmer with 10.5 °C. The next years to closely follow are 2019 and 2014 with 10.3 °C each. This has been announced by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) after an initial analysis of the observations from its approximately 2,000 measuring stations. Tobias Fuchs, head of Climate at the DWD: “The very warm year of 2020 should not leave us indifferent. The scientific climate facts presented by the national meteorological service are alarming. Protecting the climate is the order of the day. We must act now.” This is being emphasised by further climate data provided by the DWD: nine of the ten warmest years were recorded in the 21st century, and the four warmest years occurred during the recent decade 2011–2020, which was also the warmest since records began. In addition, the previous year was characterised by an abundance of sunshine, and it was the third year in a row with less-than-average precipitation.
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