There is over a 98% chance that 2020 will land in the top five hottest years on record, according to federal scientists.
AFTER LAST MONTH WAS the warmest January on global record, federal scientists are “virtually certain” that 2020 will land on the top 10 list of hottest years, likely in one of the top five spots.
Last month beat out the previous hottest January over the past 141 years, which was in 2016. Based on historical records and probability statistics, 2020 will rank among the top 10 hottest years, according to scientists with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
“One way to look at this is … we completed the first lap in a 12 lap race and we are in the lead after the first lap,” Karin Gleason, a climatologist with NOAA, said on a call Thursday with reporters.
There is over a 98% chance that 2020 will land in the top five hottest years on record.
Last month was the fifth hottest January on record across the contiguous U.S. No states reported average or below-average temperatures.
“It was very much a blanket of warmth this past month,” Gleason said.
The unseasonal warmth caused residential energy demand to plummet roughly 29% below average, according to NOAA.
The news comes after researchers confirmed that 2019 was the second-hottest year ever recorded and it topped off the hottest decade on record. They noted that every decade since the 1960s has been warmer than the one prior.
They also confirmed that these trends are persistent and not a “fluke” due to any weather phenomena. NOAA attributed the long-term trends to “increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”