Earth’s climate went off the rails in 2021, reports show
Global warming became local to a new and devastating extent in 2021, with the year ranking as the sixth-warmest on record, according to new, independent data from NASA, NOAA and Berkeley Earth. Why it matters: Each year’s data adds to the relentless long-term trend, which shows rapid warming due overwhelmingly to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions during the past several decades in particular. … Four of the top 20 largest wildfires in California history occurred in 2021, as heat waves and drought primed the environment for massive blazes.
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