2020 is set to become one of the three hottest years on record and could even exceed the record set in 2016. This was stated by Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the United Nations Meteorological Organization, presenting the 2020 report on the state of the global climate.
The decade 2011-2020 will be the hottest ever, with the six warmest years since 2015, according to the World Meteorological Organization (Wmo).
Ocean heat "is at record levels and over 80% of the global ocean experienced a sea heat wave during 2020, with widespread repercussions for marine ecosystems that already suffer from more acidic waters due to absorption of carbon dioxide (Co2), according to the WTO Forecast Report on the State of the Global Climate in 2020. The report, which is based on contributions from dozens of international organizations and experts, shows how high impact events including extreme heat, fires and floods, as well as the record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season, have affected millions of people, exacerbating the threats to human health, security and economic stability posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), for its part, denounces that climate change is the greatest threat to Unesco's natural heritage such as glaciers and wetlands, and has put Australia's Great Barrier Reef in "critical" conditions.
Climate change puts one third of the 252 natural sites on the UNESCO list at risk.
Among the damages caused to the natural heritage of humanity "the contraction of glaciers, the bleaching of corals, fires and increasingly frequent and serious droughts", explained in a note the director general of IUCN Bruno Oberle.
