Earth's CO2 Home Page

Keeling Curve Monthly

 

    CO₂ Data

 

    NOAA-ESRL  Trends in atmospheric CO₂

    Scripps UCSD  Keeling Curve +  Scripps CO2 Program

    CO₂.earth (reposted data)  Daily CO₂  |  Weekly CO₂  |  Monthly CO₂  |  Annual CO₂

    CO₂.earth  Track The Trend

 

    Show the Trend

 

    Show.earth  Add a 'KC Monthly' CO₂ widget to your site or blog

 

 

---

Global Warming Update

November Global Temperature Change*

November Rankings:  1880 - 2020 Temperature Record

Comparisons with 20th Century Global Average Surface Temperature
(Temperatures are not compared here with a pre-industrial baseline)

*Surface temperature changes relative to 20th Century global average (1901 - 2000)
Source data  NOAA-NCDC State of the Climate: Global Analysis  [Web + data download]

"The combined global average temperature over the land and ocean surfaces for November 2020 was 0.97°C (1.75°F) above the 20th century average of 12.9°C (55.2°F). This was the second warmest November in the 141-year global record, behind the record warm November set in 2015 (+1.01°C / +1.82°F). The 10 warmest Novembers have all occurred since 2004; the five warmest Novembers have occurred since 2013. November 2020 also marked the 44th consecutive November and the 431st consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average.

The month of November was characterized by warmer-than-average temperatures across much of the globe, with the most notable warm temperature departures from average across western and northern Alaska, most of the contiguous U.S., northern Europe, northern Asia, Australia, and across parts of South America, the North Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and parts of the western Antarctic, where temperatures were at least 3.0°C (5.4°F) above average. Record-warm November temperatures were observed across parts each of the continents where data is available and across parts of all of the major oceans. As a whole, about 6.74% of the world's land and ocean surfaces had a record-warm November temperature—the fourth highest November percentage since records began in 1951. Only Novembers of 2015 (9.73%), 2019 (9.23%), and 2010 (7.61%) had a higher percentage of record warm November temperatures. Cooler-than-average November temperatures were observed across parts of Canada, northern Africa, southwestern Asia, across the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean, the northern Atlantic and southern oceans. However, no land or ocean areas had record-cold November temperatures.

According to NCEI's regional analysis, Oceania had its warmest November on record, with a temperature departure from average of +2.06°C (+3.71°F). This value shattered the previous record of 1.85°C (3.33°F) by 0.21°C (0.38°F). Seven of Oceania's ten warmest Novembers have occurred since 2002. Australia had its warmest November in the nation's 111-year record with a national mean temperature departure of +2.47°C (+4.45°F). This surpassed the now second highest November temperature set in 2014 by 0.40°C (0.72°F). The national maximum and minimum temperatures were also the highest on record. All regions had a top five warm November, with South Australia and the Northern Territory having their warmest November on record. New Zealand also had a very warm November, with a national temperature of 14.6°C (58.3°F) or 0.9°C (1.6°F) above the 1981–2010 average. November 2020 marked New Zealand's 46th consecutive month with temperatures above average. Several locations across New Zealand had a top five warm November. Of note, the town of Motueka had their warmest November since temperature records began in 1956.

Europe, as a whole, had its second highest November temperature departure on record at +2.15°C (+3.87°F), which is 0.33°C (0.59°F) less than the record set in 2015. The United Kingdom's national mean temperature for November 2020 was 7.7°C (45.9°F) or 1.5°C (2.7°F) above average—this was the sixth highest since national records began in 1884. Regionally, England and Scotland had their fifth warmest November on record. According to Norway's Meteorologisk Institutt, Norway's November 2020 temperature was 4.6°C (8.3°F) above average and tied with 2011 as the highest November since national records began in 1900. Spain had its third warmest November since national records began in 1961, with a temperature departure of 2.0°C (3.6°F) above average. Only Novembers of 1983 and 2006 were warmer.

South America (third warmest), the Hawaiian region (fourth warmest), and Asia (fifth warmest) had a November temperature that ranked among the five highest on record. November 2020 was Kingdom of Bahrain's warmest November since national records began in 1902, with a mean temperature departure of +1.9°C (+3.4°F). The previous record set in 1954 and, again in 2017, was 0.2°C (0.4°F) cooler. The nation's minimum and maximum temperatures were the second and fifth highest on record, respectively."

[NOAA/NCEI global analysis accessed December 15, 2020]

Dec. 2020: Columbia University Reports Observed Acceleration in Global Warming:

"Abstratct: Record global temperature in 2020, despite a strong La Niña in recent months, reaffirms a global warming acceleration that is too large to be unforced noise – it implies an increased growth rate of the total global climate forcing and Earth’s energy imbalance. Growth of measured forcings (greenhouse gases plus solar irradiance) decreased during the period of increased warming, implying that atmospheric aerosols probably decreased in the past decade. There is a need for accurate aerosol measurements and improved monitoring of Earth’s energy imbalance.

November 2020 was the warmest November in the period of instrumental data, thus jumping 2020 ahead of 2016 in the 11-month averages.  December 2016 was relatively cool, so it is clear that 2020 will slightly edge 2016 for the warmest year, at least in the GISTEMP analysis. The rate of global warming accelerated in the past 6-7 years (Fig. 2). The deviation of the 5-year (60 month) running mean from the linear warming rate is large and persistent; it implies an increase in the net climate forcing and Earth’s energy imbalance, which drive global warming."

Columbia U "Global Warming Acceleration" (Hansen & Sato) published & accessed December 14, 2020
 

"The science is sobering—the global temperature in 2012 was among the hottest since records began in 1880. Make no mistake: without concerted action, the very future of our planet is in peril."

~ Christine Lagarde, in 2012
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
[video][text]

NOAA annual global analysis for 2019: 

"The year 2019 was the second warmest year in the 140-year record, with a global land and ocean surface temperature departure from average of +0.95°C (+1.71°F). This value is only 0.04°C (0.07°F) less than the record high value of +0.99°C (+1.78°F) set in 2016 and 0.02°C (0.04°F) higher than the now third highest value set in 2015 (+0.93°C / +1.67°F). The five warmest years in the 1880–2019 record have all occurred since 2015, while nine of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 2005. The year 1998 currently ranks as the 10 warmest year on record. The year 2019 marks the 43rd consecutive year (since 1977) with global land and ocean temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th century average.

The year began in a weak-to-moderate El Niño, transitioning to ENSO-neutral conditions by July. During the year, each monthly temperature ranked among the five warmest for their respective months on record, with the months of June and July record warm.

The global annual temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.07°C (0.13°F) per decade since 1880 and over twice that rate (+0.18°C / +0.32°F) since 1981.

"

[NOAA/NCEI global analysis for 2019 accessed November 11, 2020].

"Globally-averaged temperatures in 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius). Only once before, in 1998, has the new record been greater than the old record by this much."

~ NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies [NASA post of January 20, 2016]

Before the end of 2015, scientists projected that average global temperature increase for 2015 will exceed 1°C above pre-industrial levels.  The years 1850-1900 are used as the pre-industrial baseline by the MET Office and Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the UK.  The MET Office released this statement in November 2015:

"This year marks an important first but that doesn't necessarily mean every year from now on will be a degree or more above pre-industrial levels, as natural variability will still play a role in determining the temperature in any given year.  As the world continues to warm in the coming decades, however, we will see more and more years passing the 1 degree marker - eventually it will become the norm."

~ Peter Stott
Head of Climate Monitoring and Attribution (MET Office)

>> Read More