The global average temperature in 2020 was about 2.25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average from 1850 to 1900, data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service indicates.
2020
The preindustrial baseline, which averages global temperatures between 1850 and 1900, is based on a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF
By Veronica Penney/The New York Times
Some regions experienced exceptional warming. For the second year in a row, Europe had its warmest year ever, and suffered from deadly heat waves. But the temperature difference between 2020 and 2019 was striking: 2020 was 0.4 degrees Celsius, or nearly three-quarters of a degree Fahrenheit, warmer.
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Attempting to cool off in Lyon, France, on July 30, when temperatures reached 99 degrees Fahrenheit.Credit.Jeff Pachoud/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
While not quite as drastic as in Europe, temperatures across North America were above average as well. The warming played a critical role in widespread drought that affected most of the western half of the United States and intense wildfires that ravaged California and Colorado.