Though it was understandably lost in the tumult of more pressing events, 2020 was notable for another worrying trend: heat. From Siberia to the U.S. Southwest, temperatures came near to or broke records for warmth. It’s something that’s more norm than outlier of late — 2020 is simply another data point in a worrying trend of consistently hotter temperatures around the world.
The obvious culprit is climate change, the ongoing process of gradual warming due to human activities. As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, more record-breaking years are sure to come, with increasingly dangerous consequences. So, how hot is it really going to get?
The answer is twofold: It’s going to get hotter, but we don’t yet know by how much. That’s partly because the future rise in Earth’s temperatures is still up to us, to some degree. When, and how quickly, we begin curbing emissions plays a big role in the evolution of global warming. There’s still a chance, though an increasingly slim one, that we’ll halt climate change before too much damage occurs. On the other hand, inaction could result in scenarios that look downright apocalyptic.
