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This is an article of notable issues relating to the environment in 2020. They relate to environmental events such as natural disasters, environmental sciences such as ecology, environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.

Events

Date / period	Type of event	Event
January	Environmental disaster	The Australian wildfires in January 2020 were intense. Thousands of people have evacuated from north-east Victoria, East Gippsland, and the south coast of NSW.^[1] Australia's bushfire crisis is expected to contribute up to 2% of what scientists forecast will be one of the largest annual increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide on record. In the forecast by the British Met Office climate gas concentration is projected to peak at more than 417 parts per million in May 2020.^[2]
January, 13 (February 24-29)	Policy	The UN Convention on Biological Diversity drafted proposal to prevent reverse biodiversity decline that risks the survival of humanity: Almost a third of the world's oceans and land should be protected by the end of the decade.^[3]
January	Environmental disaster	Storm Gloria in Spain: Seawater flooded ca 30sq km of rice plants, killed people, blocked roads, power cuts and damaged beaches around Barcelona, Valencia and on the Balearic Islands.^[4]
January, 25	Environmental disaster	2020 Elazığ earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 killed at least 20 people in eastern Turkey.^[5]
January	Environmental disaster	Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil more than doubled in January 2020 compared with the previous year,^[6] the Amazon rainforest biodiversity is huge and is the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia.^[7] Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest may influence the climate worldwide.
February	Environmental disaster	European Storm Ciara — known as Sabine in Germany and Switzerland and Elsa in Norway — stopped aviation and train traffic in many countries because of in maximum over 30 m/s wind speeds.^[8] Storm Ciara helps plane beat transatlantic flight record from New York to London in 4 hours and 56 minutes.^[9]
February	Environmental disaster	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned of the massive coral bleaching in Great Barrier Reef. After mid February model forecasts suggested that “2020 is likely to be the most extensive coral bleaching event that we have seen so far” on the reef. In 2016 and 2017, back-to-back bleaching killed about half the reef's corals.^[10]
February	Analysis	JPMorgan Chase report on the economic risks of human-caused global heating warned clients that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity and that the planet.^[11]
February	Environmental disaster	Hundreds of properties flooded in the UK after the Storm Dennis In February 2020. Storm hit large areas including the United Kingdom, The United States, Canada & Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands.^[12]
February	Analysis	The UN issued a warning about the numbers of desert locusts in East Africa.^[13]

Environmental sciences

Date / period	Type	Description	Topics	Image
March, 4	Attribution	Scientists of the international World Weather Attribution project publicize a study which found that human-caused climate change had an influence on the 2019-20 Australian wildfires by causing high-risk conditions that made widespread burning at least 30 percent more likely. They comment on the results, stating that climate change probably had more effects on the fires which couldn't be attributed using their climate simulations and that not all drivers of the fires showed imprints of anthropogenic climate change.^[14]^[15]	[Wildfires, Australian] [Global warming]

8 January – Scientists publish evidence from Siberian caves suggesting that summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean plays an essential role in stabilising permafrost and its large store of carbon.^[16]^[17]

13 January – A study finds that ocean temperatures were at a record high in 2019 and underwent the largest single-year increase of the decade.^[18]^[19]^[20]

21 January – A study finds record high emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, HFC-23.^[21]^[22]^[23]

21 January – Researchers present evidence that the platypus is at risk of extinction, due to a combination of water resource development, land clearing, climate change and increasingly severe periods of drought.^[24]^[25]

21 January – A study by researchers finds that man-made ozone-depleting substances (ODS) caused the largest share of Arctic warming, one-third of global warming and roughly half of Arctic warming and sea ice loss from 1955 to 2005.^[26]^[27]

28 January – A new study finds that many of Earth's biodiverse ecosystems are in danger of collapse. The study mapped over 100 high-risk ecosystems and habitats in specific locations, and noted the highly detrimental patterns in each one that result from climate change and local human activities.^[28]^[29]^[30]

5 February – In a study researchers assess that Extant-Native Trophic (ENT), a trophic rewilding approach which restores lost species to ecosystems, can help mitigate climate change. This form of rewilding would restore large-bodied herbivore and carnivore guilds which could reduce methane emissions and according to the study could be an "important complementary strategy to natural climate solutions to ensure other nature-based benefits to biodiversity conservation and society are also delivered".^[31]^[32]

6 February – A record-breaking 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) temperature is recorded at an Argentine weather base on the northern tip of Antarctica, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The previous record was 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in March 2015.^[33] On February 9 another Antarctic weather research station, located on Seymour Island registered a temperature of 20.75 Celsius, considered to be a "likely record" and requiring some open questions to be answered before being confirmed.^[34]

10 February – Scientists of NASA's Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) publish conclusions from mapped methane hotspots of an Arctic 30,000‐km² study domain. They used the AVIRIS—NG instrument on flights over the Arctic to map the hotspots and quantified a power law dependence of the emissions on distance to nearest standing water.^[35]^[36]

11 February – Researchers report that their projections show that the number of compound hot extremes that combine daytime and nighttime heat could quadruple by 2100 in the Northern Hemisphere even if emissions are brought down to meet the Paris climate deal goals.^[37]^[38]

18 February – Scientists report warning signs of flank instability of the Ecuadorian Tungurahua volcano. A potential collapse of the western flank could result in a large landslide.^[39]^[40]^[41]

24 February – A study of the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, published in Nature, finds that 21% of Australia's forests (excluding Tasmania) have burnt down, an amount described in the journal as "unprecedented" and "greatly exceed[ing] previous fires both within Australia and globally" in terms of scale within the last 20 years.^[42]^[43] Other characteristics that distinguish the fires from similar ones include that they happened in populated areas instead of remote areas in e.g. Siberia^[44] – due to which a large number of people were affected by smoke of the fires – and their intensity and geographical spread across the country.^[45]

4 March – A global scientific collaboration of ca. 100 institutions publishes their analysis of three decades of tree growth and death in 565 undisturbed tropical forests across Africa and the Amazon. The researchers found that the overall uptake of carbon into Earth's intact tropical forests peaked in the 1990s, dropped by one-third on average by the 2010s and may have started a downward trend. While extra carbon dioxide boosts tree growth, the effect is countered by negative impacts of higher temperatures and droughts which slow growth and can kill trees. Their models project a long-term decline in the African carbon sink and the Amazonas likely becoming a carbon source, rather than sink, in the mid-2030s.^[46]^[47]^[48]

10 March – Scientists publish evidence that even large ecosystems can collapse on relatively short timescales. Their paper suggests that once a 'point of no return' is reached, the Amazon rainforest could shift to a savannah-type mixture of trees and grass within 50 years.^[49]^[50]^[51]^[52]

10 March – Researchers show when, where, and how mangrove forests reduce risks of flooding at coastlines worldwide, evaluate the economic value thereof and illustrate ways to fund mangrove protection with economic incentives, insurance, and climate risk financing.^[53]^[54]

16 March – Researchers publish a paper in which they evaluate the potential for carbon sequestration in soils and found that properly managed soils would be a natural climate solution which could contribute a quarter of absorption on land – 5.5 billion tonnes annually. Roughly 40 percent of this absorption could be achieved by preserving existing soil instead of using it for agriculture and plantation growth. The researchers recommend strategies for slowing or halting ongoing expansion of such land-use and shifting incentive structures in agriculture towards payments for ecosystem-related services.^[55]^[56]

19 March – Satellite data show that air pollution was reduced significantly in countries worldwide after lockdowns and other interventions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sudden shift has been called the "largest scale experiment ever" in terms of the reduction of industrial emissions.^[57]^[58]

26 March – A third mass coral bleaching event in five years is recorded at the Great Barrier Reef.^[59]^[60]

1 April – A scientific review finds that substantial recovery for most components of marine ecosystems within two to three decades can be achieved if climate change is addressed adequately and efficient interventions are deployed at large scale. It documents the recovery of marine populations, habitats and ecosystems following past conservation interventions, identifies nine components integral to conservation and recovery and recommend actions along with opportunities, benefits, possible roadblocks and remedial actions. The researchers caution about a narrow window of opportunity in which decisions can choose between "a legacy of a resilient and vibrant ocean or an irreversibly disrupted ocean". They assess the goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations to be a "doable Grand Challenge for humanity, an ethical obligation and a smart economic objective to achieve a sustainable future".^[61]^[62]^[63]^[64]

1 April – Researchers report to have discovered and analysed fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores which indicate that rainforests existed near the South Pole ca. 90 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Their findings suggest that the climate was exceptionally warm at the time and that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were substantially higher than expected during the mid-Cretaceous period, 115-80 million years ago.^[65]^[66]^[67]^[68]

6 April – Scientists using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite report a "mini-hole" in the ozone layer over the Arctic, likely caused by unusual atmospheric conditions, including freezing temperatures in the stratosphere.^[69]^[70]

7 April – Scientists report the results of a survey of the Great Barrier Reef. For the first time, all its three regions experienced severe bleaching.^[71] On March 25 – day three of the nine-day survey – they reported its third mass bleaching event within five years.^[72]

13 April – A study which included aircraft measurements of methane emissions from offshore oil and gas platforms collected over the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in January 2018 indicates that the United States via the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) underestimated methane emissions at the time from these sites by a factor of 2. They attribute the discrepancy between regional airborne estimates and their data as well as their estimations for total methane emissions from these sites and the GHGI estimations adjusted for 2018 to incomplete platform counts and emission factors that underestimate emissions for shallow water platforms and don't account for disproportionately high emissions from large shallow water facilities.^[73]^[74]^[75]^[76]^[77]

15 April – Scientists report that the Greenland ice sheet lost around 600 billion tonnes of water in 2019, which would raise sea levels by about 1.5 millimetres and make up ca. 40% of the year's total sea level rise. The runoff ranked second only after the exceptional year 2012. The study affirms the exceptional nature of the 2019 season and shows that high-pressure atmospheric conditions over Greenland due to changing atmospheric circulation patterns – which have become more frequent due to climate change – were a cause of the melting next to the warmer temperatures. This suggests that scientists may be underestimating the melting of Greenland's ice – likely by a factor of two according to co-author Xavier Fettweis.^[78]^[79]^[80]

16 April – Australia's Morrison Government announces the launch of the research and development phase of its Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program after a two-year feasibility study. The selected 43 strategies of the program include climate engineering concepts such as brightening clouds with salt crystals, technologies to increase survival rate of coral larvae, coral seeding strategies and methods to facilitate faster recovery of coral reefs.^[81]^[82] The Australian Marine Conservation Society welcomed the work but remarked that policies which address global warming – the main cause of increasingly severe and frequent mass coral bleaching events – should be prioritised, that the projects could take years or decades to develop and that solutions to climate change – such as renewable energies – are already available.^[83]

17 April – Researchers report that the 2000–2018 Southwestern North American drought was the second driest 19-year period since 800 CE, exceeded only by a late-1500s megadrought and that anthropogenic trends in temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation estimated from 31 climate models account for approximately 47% of the 2000–2018 drought severity.^[84]^[85]^[86]^[87]

19 April – Researchers report that the Arctic Ocean will likely be occasionally sea-ice free in summers before 2050 in scenarios where global warming is kept below 2 °C.^[88]^[89]

20 April – Researchers report that Eurasian ice sheet collapse was a major source meltwater pulse 1A sea level rise 14,600 years ago, causing up to half of the ca. 16 meter rise.^[90]^[91]^[92]

20 April – Researchers report that by the end of the 21st century people could be exposed to avoidable indoor CO2 levels of up to 1400 ppm, which would be triple the amount commonly experienced outdoors today and, according to the authors, may cut humans' basic decision-making ability by ~25% and complex strategic thinking by ~50%.^[93]^[94]^[95]

22 April – Microplastic pollution is recorded in Antarctic sea ice for the first time.^[96]^[97]

22 April – After studying the 2018 Kīlauea volcano eruption researchers report that extreme rainfall can modulate volcanic activity.^[98]^[99]

22 April – A study using satellite data shows that oil and gas operations in the United States' Permian Basin are releasing the greenhouse gas methane at twice the average rate found in earlier studies of 11 other major oil and gas regions of the United States. According to the authors insufficient infrastructure to process and transport natural gas may be one cause of the high rate.^[100]^[101]

30 April – The first results from ice-monitoring satellite ICESat-2 are published, showing that melting in Antarctica and Greenland has contributed 14 mm (0.55 in) of global sea level rise since 2003.^[102]

30 April –Scientists report that one of the climate models – the CMIP6 model CESM2 – is not supported by paleoclimate records. Comparing simulations of this model with geological evidence suggests that its climate sensitivity is too high. This indicates that this model may not perform realistically at high CO2 concentrations, overestimating global warming at high levels of CO2 where its equilibrium climate sensitivity is 5.3 °C and modelled tropical land temperature exceeds 55 °C. They recommend using paleoclimate constraints of past warm and cold climates to benchmark the performance of CMIP6 climate models.^[103]^[104]

4 May – Researchers project that regions inhabited by a third of the human population could become as hot as the hottest parts of the Sahara within 50 years without a change in patterns of population growth and without migration, unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. The projected annual average temperature of above 29 °C for these regions would be outside the "human temperature niche" and the most affected regions have little adaptive capacity as of 2020.^[105]^[106]^[107]^[108]

8 May – Researchers show that wet-bulb temperatures (TW) above the upper physiological limit of humans have already occurred in some coastal subtropical locations despite climate models projecting such to occur only by the mid-21st century. These combinations of humidity and heat above a TW of 35 °C are likely to be fatal even to fit and healthy people when exposure is sustained and have more than doubled in frequency since 1979 overall, weather station data shows.^[109]^[110]^[111]^[112]

13 May – Scientists report to have evolved 10 clonal strains of a common coral microalgal endosymbionts at elevated temperatures for 4 years, increasing their thermal tolerance for climate resilience. Three of the strains increased the corals' bleaching tolerance after reintroduction into coral host larvae. Their strains and findings may potentially be relevant for the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and further tests of algal strains in adult colonies across a range of coral species are planned.^[113]^[114]^[115]

19 May – Researchers report a temporary 17% drop in daily global CO₂ emissions by early April 2020 compared with the mean 2019 levels during the COVID-19 forced confinements. At the peak of the interventions, where 89% of global emissions were in areas under some confinement, emissions in individual countries decreased by –26% on average. Estimations on the impact on 2020 annual emissions are between -2% and -13%. The largest reductions were due to reductions of surface transport.^[116]^[117]^[118] Despite of this on May 4 UN Climate Change reports that the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere reached an all-time daily high of the ca. 60-year record on May 3.^[119]

20 May – Researchers report estimations of green snow algae community biomass and distribution along the Antarctic Peninsula and project a net increase in their extent and biomass and coastal Antarctica turning more green due to climate change.^[120]^[121]^[122]

1 June – Researchers publish a study using data on verterbrates on the brink to extinction and on verterbrates that recently became extinct, in which they conclude that a human-caused potential sixth mass extinction, which was claimed to be emerging by researchers of the study in 2015, is likely accelerating and suggest a number of reasons for that including extinctions causing further extinctions. They reemphasize "extreme urgency of taking much-expanded worldwide actions".^[123]^[124]^[125]

8 June – Researchers report results consistent with the hypothesis that pesticides contribute to monarch butterfly declines in the western United States.^[126]^[127]

13 June – Scientists report that early supercomputer climate modelling results that are being compiled for the sixth assessment by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by more than 20 institutions due to be released in 2021 suggest a higher climate sensitivity than previously believed with 25% of the models showing a sharp upward shift from 3 °C to 5 °C in climate sensitivity supporting or revising worst-case projections of over 5 °C of global warming. The projections of more future warming may be due to a role of clouds. According to a study published on 24 June cloud feedbacks and cloud-aerosol interactions are the most likely contributors to the high values and increased range of equilibrium climate sensitivity in the CMIP6 model.^[128]^[129]^[130]

17 June – Results of a study indicate greater regional anthropogenic carbon storage in and ocean acidification of the Arctic Ocean than previously projected.^[131]^[132]

19 June – Scientists, as part of a World Scientists' Warning to Humanity-associated series, warn that worldwide growth in affluence has increased resource use and pollutant emissions with affluent citizens of the world – in terms of e.g. resource-intensive consumption – being responsible for most negative environmental impacts and central to a transition to safer, sustainable conditions. They summarise evidence, present solution approaches and state that far-reaching lifestyle changes need to complement technological advancements and that existing societies, economies and cultures incite consumption expansion and that the structural imperative for growth in competitive market economies inhibits societal change.^[133]^[134]^[135]

23 June – The World Meteorological Organization announces a possible new temperature-record of 38 °C north of the Arctic Circle, which it seeks to verify and assess. It was reported on 20 June in Verkhoyansk, Russia amid a prolonged Siberian heatwave and an increase in wildfire activity.^[136]^[137]^[138]

3 July – Via analysis of satellite images, scientists show that certified "sustainable" palm oil production resulted in deforestation of tropical forests of Sumatra and Borneo and endangered mammals' habitat degradation in the last 30 years.^[139]^[140]

8 July – The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) announces that it assesses a 20% chance that global warming compared to pre-industrial levels will exceed 1.5 °C in at least one year within the five years of 2020-2024. 1.5 °C is often considered to be a key threshold of global warming and nations have agreed to attempt limiting contemporary climate change to it under the Paris Agreement.^[141]^[142]

8 July – Scientists assess that the geoengineering technique of enhanced rock weathering – spreading finely crushed basalt on fields – has potential use for carbon dioxide removal by nations, identifying costs, opportunities and engineering challenges.^[143]^[144]

10 July – Scientists report that phytoplankton primary production in the Arctic Ocean increased by 57% between 1998 and 2018 due to higher concentrations, suggesting the ocean may be able to support higher trophic level production and additional carbon fixation in the future.^[145]^[146]

15 July – In two studies researchers of the Global Carbon Project summarise and analyse new estimates of the global methane budget and provide data and insights on sources and sinks for the geographical regions and economic sectors where the rising anthropogenic methane emissions have changed the most over recent decades. According to the studies, global methane emissions for the 2008 to 2017 decade increased by almost 10 percent compared to the previous decade.^[147]^[148]^[149]^[150]

22 July – Scientists confirm the first active leak of sea-bed methane in Antarctica and report that "the rate of microbial succession may have an unrealized impact on greenhouse gas emission from marine methane reservoirs".^[151]^[152]

22 July – Scientists report results of a survey of 371 reefs in 58 nations estimating the conservation status of reef sharks globally. No sharks have been observed on almost 20% of the surveyed reefs and shark depletion was strongly associated with both socio-economic conditions and conservation measures.^[153]^[154] Sharks are considered to be a vital part of the ocean ecosystem.

31 July – Two ice caps in Nunavut, Canada have disappeared completely, confirming predictions of a study published in 2017 that they would melt completely within five years.^[155]

Environmental law

From 1 January 2020, ships will only be permitted to use fuel oil with a very low sulfur content. The International Maritime Organization estimates that the new limit of 0.5% sulfur content, down from 3.5%, will cut sulfur dioxide emissions from ships by about 8.5 million tonnes.^[156]

The Pacific nation of Palau bans sun cream that is harmful to corals and sea life in January 2020.^[157]

Coronavirus pandemic

In February - March 2020 campaigners say that governments should act with the same urgency on climate as on the coronavirus. The health crisis is reducing carbon emissions more than any policy.

Global air traffic decreased by 4.3% in February 2020 with cancellations of tens of thousands of flights to affected areas.^[158]
Chinese measures against coronavirus in Feb 2020 reduced coal consumption at power plants 36%, oil refining capacity 34% and satellite-based NO2 levels 37%.^[159]

References

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^ Australian bushfires to contribute to huge annual increase in global carbon dioxide The Guardian 24 Jan 2020
^ UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction The Guardian 15 Jan 2020
^ Storm Gloria floods major river delta in eastern Spain BBC 22 Jan 2020
^ Multiple fatalities after earthquake hits eastern Turkey The Guardian 25 Jan 2020
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@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 {| class="sortable wikitable"
 ! scope="col" width="20" style="width:5%;" | Date / period
-! scope="col" width="30" style="width:10%;" | Type of event
+! scope="col" width="30" style="width:10%;" | Type
-! scope="col" width="30" style="width:80%;" | Event
+! scope="col" width="30" style="width:80%;" | Description
 ! scope="col" width="3" style="width:2%;" | Topics
 ! scope="col" width="3" style="width:3%;" | Image
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 | March, 4 || Attribution || Scientists of the international [[World Weather Attribution]] project publicize a study which found that [[global warming|human-caused climate change]] had an influence on the [[2019-20 Australian bushfire season|2019-20 Australian wildfires]] by causing high-risk conditions that made widespread burning at least 30 percent more likely. They comment on the results, stating that climate change probably had more effects on the fires which couldn't be attributed using their [[climate simulation]]s and that not all drivers of the fires showed imprints of anthropogenic climate change.<ref name="NYT-australiafires">{{cite news |last1=Fountain |first1=Henry |title=Climate Change Affected Australia's Wildfires, Scientists Confirm |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/climate/australia-wildfires-climate-change.html |accessdate=6 April 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=4 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oldenborgh |first1=Geert Jan van |last2=Krikken |first2=Folmer |last3=Lewis |first3=Sophie |last4=Leach |first4=Nicholas J. |last5=Lehner |first5=Flavio |last6=Saunders |first6=Kate R. |last7=Weele |first7=Michiel van |last8=Haustein |first8=Karsten |last9=Li |first9=Sihan |last10=Wallom |first10=David |last11=Sparrow |first11=Sarah |last12=Arrighi |first12=Julie |last13=Singh |first13=Roop P. |last14=Aalst |first14=Maarten K. van |last15=Philip |first15=Sjoukje Y. |last16=Vautard |first16=Robert |last17=Otto |first17=Friederike E. L. |title=Attribution of the Australian bushfire risk to anthropogenic climate change |journal=Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussions |date=11 March 2020 |pages=1–46 |doi=10.5194/nhess-2020-69 |url=https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci-discuss.net/nhess-2020-69/ |accessdate=6 April 2020 |language=English |issn=1561-8633|doi-access=free }}</ref> || [Wildfires, Australian] [Global warming] ||[[File:2019-12-07 East Australian Fires Aqua MODIS-VIIRS-LABELS.png|150px]]
 |}
+* 8 January – Scientists publish evidence from [[Siberia]]n caves suggesting that [[Arctic ice pack|summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean]] plays an essential role in stabilising [[permafrost]] and its large store of [[Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere|carbon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200108131657.htm|title=Sea-ice-free Arctic makes permafrost vulnerable to thawing|date=8 January 2020|access-date=10 January 2020|publisher=Science Daily}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vaks |first1=A. |last2=Mason |first2=A. J. |last3=Breitenbach |first3=S. F. M. |last4=Kononov |first4=A. M. |last5=Osinzev |first5=A. V. |last6=Rosensaft |first6=M. |last7=Borshevsky |first7=A. |last8=Gutareva |first8=O. S. |last9=Henderson |first9=G. M. |title=Palaeoclimate evidence of vulnerable permafrost during times of low sea ice |journal=Nature |date=January 2020 |volume=577 |issue=7789 |pages=221–225 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1880-1 |pmid=31915398 |bibcode=2020Natur.577..221V }}</ref>
+* 13 January – A study finds that [[Ocean heat content|ocean temperatures]] were at a record high in 2019 and underwent the largest single-year increase of the decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/ocean-temperatures-hit-record-high-as-rate-of-heating-accelerates|title=Ocean temperatures hit record high as rate of heating accelerates |date=13 January 2020|access-date=13 January 2020|publisher=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/ioap-row010920.php|title=Record-setting ocean warmth continued in 2019 |date=13 January 2020|access-date=13 January 2020|publisher=EurekAlert!}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Record-Setting Ocean Warmth Continued in 2019|date=13 January 2020|journal=Advances in Atmospheric Sciences|volume=37|issue=2|pages=137–142|doi=10.1007/s00376-020-9283-7|last1=Cheng|first1=Lijing|last2=Abraham|first2=John|last3=Zhu|first3=Jiang|last4=Trenberth|first4=Kevin E.|last5=Fasullo|first5=John|last6=Boyer|first6=Tim|last7=Locarnini|first7=Ricardo|last8=Zhang|first8=Bin|last9=Yu|first9=Fujiang|last10=Wan|first10=Liying|last11=Chen|first11=Xingrong|last12=Song|first12=Xiangzhou|last13=Liu|first13=Yulong|last14=Mann|first14=Michael E.|bibcode=2020AdAtS..37..137C|doi-access=free}}</ref>
+* 21 January – A study finds record high emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, [[HFC-23]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bristol.ac.uk/news/2020/january/hfc-23-emissions-.html|title=Emissions of potent greenhouse gas have grown, contradicting reports of huge reductions
+|date=21 January 2020|access-date=21 January 2020|publisher=University of Bristol}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/21/study-finds-shock-rise-in-levels-of-potent-greenhouse-gas-hfc-23|title=Study finds shock rise in levels of potent greenhouse gas|date=21 January 2020|access-date=21 January 2020|publisher=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stanley |first1=K. M. |last2=Say |first2=D. |last3=Mühle |first3=J. |last4=Harth |first4=C. M. |last5=Krummel |first5=P. B. |last6=Young |first6=D. |last7=O’Doherty |first7=S. J. |last8=Salameh |first8=P. K. |last9=Simmonds |first9=P. G. |last10=Weiss |first10=R. F. |last11=Prinn |first11=R. G. |last12=Fraser |first12=P. J. |last13=Rigby |first13=M. |title=Increase in global emissions of HFC-23 despite near-total expected reductions |journal=Nature Communications |date=21 January 2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=397 |doi=10.1038/s41467-019-13899-4 |pmid=31964859 |pmc=6972758 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11..397S |language=en |issn=2041-1723}}</ref>
+* 21 January<!----> – Researchers present evidence that the [[platypus]] is at risk of extinction, due to a combination of water resource development, land clearing, climate change and increasingly severe periods of drought.<ref name="EA-20200121">{{cite web|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uons-pob011920.php|title=Platypus on brink of extinction|date=21 January 2020|access-date=22 January 2020|work=[[EurekAlert!]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bino |first1=Gilad |last2=Kingsford |first2=Richard T. |last3=Wintle |first3=Brendan A. |title=A stitch in time – Synergistic impacts to platypus metapopulation extinction risk |journal=Biological Conservation |date=1 February 2020 |volume=242 |pages=108399 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108399 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320719312601 |accessdate=13 April 2020 |language=en |issn=0006-3207}}</ref>
+* 21 January – A study by researchers finds that man-made [[Ozone depletion|ozone-depleting substances]] (ODS) caused the largest share of Arctic warming, one-third of global warming and roughly half of [[Climate change in the Arctic|Arctic warming]] and sea ice loss from 1955 to 2005.<ref>{{cite news |title=Closing the Ozone Hole Helped Slow Arctic Warming |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/closing-the-ozone-hole-helped-slow-arctic-warming/ |accessdate=1 July 2020 |work=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Polvani |first1=L. M. |last2=Previdi |first2=M. |last3=England |first3=M. R. |last4=Chiodo |first4=G. |last5=Smith |first5=K. L. |title=Substantial twentieth-century Arctic warming caused by ozone-depleting substances |journal=Nature Climate Change |date=February 2020 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=130–133 |doi=10.1038/s41558-019-0677-4 |bibcode=2020NatCC..10..130P }}</ref>
+* 28 January – A new study finds that many of Earth's [[biodiversity|biodiverse]] ecosystems are in danger of collapse. The study mapped over 100 high-risk ecosystems and habitats in specific locations, and noted the highly detrimental patterns in each one that result from climate change and local human activities.<ref>[https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/480287-study-earths-most-biodiverse-ecosystems-face New study says Earth's most biodiverse ecosystems facing collapse. A new study mapped more than 100 locations where extreme weather events have affected forests and coral reefs. By Joseph Guzman, thehill.com, Jan 28, 2020. ]</ref><ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/climate-change-tropical-reef-biodiversity-collapse-183622306.html Climate change, heatwaves and humans are 'sparking a collapse in reefs and forests'], by Rob Waugh, January 27, 2020, Yahoo News.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=França |first1=Filipe M. |last2=Benkwitt |first2=Cassandra E. |last3=Peralta |first3=Guadalupe |last4=Robinson |first4=James P. W. |last5=Graham |first5=Nicholas A. J. |last6=Tylianakis |first6=Jason M. |last7=Berenguer |first7=Erika |last8=Lees |first8=Alexander C. |last9=Ferreira |first9=Joice |last10=Louzada |first10=Júlio |last11=Barlow |first11=Jos |title=Climatic and local stressor interactions threaten tropical forests and coral reefs |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=16 March 2020 |volume=375 |issue=1794 |pages=20190116 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2019.0116 |pmid=31983328 |pmc=7017775 |url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/624950/1/Fran%C3%A7a_et_al%282019%29PTRSB_PREPRINT.pdf }}</ref>
+* 5 February – In a study researchers assess that Extant-Native Trophic (ENT), a trophic rewilding approach which restores lost species to [[ecosystem]]s, can help [[Climate change mitigation|mitigate climate change]]. This form of [[Rewilding (conservation biology)|rewilding]] would restore large-bodied herbivore and carnivore guilds which could reduce methane emissions and according to the study could be an "important complementary strategy to natural climate solutions to ensure other nature-based benefits to [[biodiversity]] [[Conservation biology|conservation]] and society are also delivered".<ref>{{cite news |title=Rewilding can mitigate climate change, researchers report after global assessment |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-02-rewilding-mitigate-climate-global.html |website=phys.org |accessdate=8 March 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sandom |first1=Christopher J. |last2=Middleton |first2=Owen |last3=Lundgren |first3=Erick |last4=Rowan |first4=John |last5=Schowanek |first5=Simon D. |last6=Svenning |first6=Jens-Christian |last7=Faurby |first7=Søren |title=Trophic rewilding presents regionally specific opportunities for mitigating climate change |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=16 March 2020 |volume=375 |issue=1794 |pages=20190125 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2019.0125 |pmid=31983340 |pmc=7017765 }}</ref>
+* 6 February – A record-breaking {{convert|18.3|C|F|abbr=on}} temperature is recorded at an [[Argentina|Argentine]] weather base on the northern tip of [[Antarctica]], according to the [[World Meteorological Organization|World Meteorological Organization (WMO)]]. The previous record was {{convert|17.5|C|F|abbr=on}} in March 2015.<ref name="NBC-20200206">{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/base-antarctica-recorded-temperature-64-9-degrees-if-confirmed-it-n1132541|title=An Antarctic base recorded a temperature of 64.9 degrees F. If confirmed, it's a record high.|date=7 February 2020|access-date=7 February 2020|publisher=NBC News}}</ref> On February 9 another Antarctic weather research station, located on [[Seymour Island]] registered a temperature of 20.75 Celsius, considered to be a "likely record" and requiring some open questions to be answered before being confirmed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Freedman |first1=Andrew |title=Temperature in Antarctica soars to near 70 degrees, appearing to topple continental record set days earlier |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/02/13/antarctica-hottest-temperature-70-degrees/ |accessdate=25 March 2020 |work=Washington Post |date=14 February 2020}}</ref>
+* 10 February – Scientists of NASA's Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) publish conclusions from mapped [[methane]] hotspots of an Arctic 30,000‐km<sup>2</sup> study domain. They used the AVIRIS—NG instrument on flights over the Arctic to map the hotspots and quantified a power law dependence of the emissions on distance to nearest standing water.<ref>{{cite news |title=NASA flights detect millions of Arctic methane hotspots |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-02-nasa-flights-millions-arctic-methane.html |website=phys.org |accessdate=8 March 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elder |first1=Clayton D. |last2=Thompson |first2=David R. |last3=Thorpe |first3=Andrew K. |last4=Hanke |first4=Philip |last5=Anthony |first5=Katey M. Walter |last6=Miller |first6=Charles E. |title=Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |date=2020 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=e2019GL085707 |doi=10.1029/2019GL085707 |bibcode=2020GeoRL..4785707E |language=en |issn=1944-8007}}</ref>
+* 11 February – Researchers report that their projections show that the number of compound hot extremes that combine daytime and nighttime heat could quadruple by 2100 in the Northern Hemisphere even if emissions are brought down to meet the [[Paris Agreement#Aims|Paris climate deal goals]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Northern Hemisphere faces 4-fold rise in extreme heat periods: study |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-02-northern-hemisphere-fold-extreme-periods.html |website=phys.org |accessdate=9 March 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Jun |last2=Chen |first2=Yang |last3=Tett |first3=Simon F. B. |last4=Yan |first4=Zhongwei |last5=Zhai |first5=Panmao |last6=Feng |first6=Jinming |last7=Xia |first7=Jiangjiang |title=Anthropogenically-driven increases in the risks of summertime compound hot extremes |journal=Nature Communications |date=11 February 2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=528 |doi=10.1038/s41467-019-14233-8 |pmid=32047147 |pmc=7012878 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11..528W |language=en |issn=2041-1723}}</ref>
+* 18 February – Scientists report warning signs of flank instability of the Ecuadorian [[Tungurahua volcano]]. A potential collapse of the western flank could result in a large landslide.<ref name="PHYS-20200218">{{cite news |title=South American volcano showing early warning signs of 'potential collapse,' research shows |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-02-south-american-volcano-early-potential.html |website=phys.org |accessdate=9 March 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="USA-20200220">{{cite news |last1=Rice |first1=Doyle |title=Ecuador's 'throat of fire' volcano showing signs of 'potential collapse,' study shows |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/02/20/tungurahua-volcano-ecuador-throat-of-fire-could-collapse/4821551002/ |website=USA TODAY |accessdate=9 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="EPS-20200315">{{cite journal |last1=Hickey |first1=James |last2=Lloyd |first2=Ryan |last3=Biggs |first3=Juliet |last4=Arnold |first4=David |last5=Mothes |first5=Patricia |last6=Muller |first6=Cyril |title=Rapid localized flank inflation and implications for potential slope instability at Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |date=15 March 2020 |volume=534 |pages=116104 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116104 |bibcode=2020E&PSL.53416104H |language=en |issn=0012-821X|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 24 February – A study of the [[2019–20 Australian bushfire season]], published in ''Nature'', finds that 21% of [[Forests of Australia|Australia's forests]] (excluding [[Tasmania]]) have burnt down, an amount described in the journal as "unprecedented" and "greatly exceed[ing] previous fires both within Australia and globally" in terms of scale within the last 20 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/25/unprecedented-globally-more-than-20-of-australias-forests-burnt-in-bushfires|title='Unprecedented' globally: more than 20% of Australia's forests burnt in bushfires|date=24 February 2020|access-date=25 February 2020|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=In the line of fire|date=24 February 2020|journal=Nature|volume=10|issue=3|pages=169|doi=10.1038/s41558-020-0720-5|bibcode=2020NatCC..10..169.|doi-access=free}}</ref> Other characteristics that distinguish the fires from similar ones include that they happened in populated areas instead of remote areas in e.g. Siberia<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tarabay |first1=Jamie |title=Why These Australia Fires Are Like Nothing We've Seen Before |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/world/australia/fires-size-climate.html |accessdate=25 March 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=21 January 2020}}</ref> – due to which a large number of people were [[Wildfire#Airborne hazards|affected by smoke of the fires]] – and their intensity and geographical spread across the country.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morton |first1=Adam |last2=Evershed |first2=Nick |last3=Readfearn |first3=Graham |title=Australia bushfires factcheck: are this year's fires unprecedented? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/22/australia-bushfires-factcheck-are-this-years-fires-unprecedented |accessdate=25 March 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=22 November 2019}}</ref>
+* 4 March – A global scientific collaboration of ca. 100 institutions publishes their analysis of three decades of tree growth and death in 565 undisturbed tropical forests across Africa and the [[Amazon rainforest|Amazon]]. The researchers found that the overall uptake of carbon into Earth's intact tropical forests peaked in the 1990s, dropped by one-third on average by the 2010s and may have started a downward trend. While extra carbon dioxide boosts tree growth, the effect is countered by negative impacts of higher temperatures and droughts which slow growth and can kill trees. Their models project a long-term decline in the African [[carbon sink]] and the Amazonas likely becoming a carbon source, rather than sink, in the mid-2030s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tropical forests' carbon sink is already rapidly weakening |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-03-tropical-forests-carbon-rapidly-weakening.html |accessdate=5 April 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=correspondent |first1=Fiona Harvey Environment |title=Tropical forests losing their ability to absorb carbon, study finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/04/tropical-forests-losing-their-ability-to-absorb-carbon-study-finds |accessdate=5 April 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=4 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hubau |first1=Wannes |last2=Lewis |first2=Simon L. |last3=Phillips |first3=Oliver L. |last4=Affum-Baffoe |first4=Kofi |last5=Beeckman |first5=Hans |last6=Cuní-Sanchez |first6=Aida |last7=Daniels |first7=Armandu K. |last8=Ewango |first8=Corneille E. N. |last9=Fauset |first9=Sophie |last10=Mukinzi |first10=Jacques M. |last11=Sheil |first11=Douglas |last12=Sonké |first12=Bonaventure |last13=Sullivan |first13=Martin J. P. |last14=Sunderland |first14=Terry C. H. |last15=Taedoumg |first15=Hermann |last16=Thomas |first16=Sean C. |last17=White |first17=Lee J. T. |last18=Abernethy |first18=Katharine A. |last19=Adu-Bredu |first19=Stephen |last20=Amani |first20=Christian A. |last21=Baker |first21=Timothy R. |last22=Banin |first22=Lindsay F. |last23=Baya |first23=Fidèle |last24=Begne |first24=Serge K. |last25=Bennett |first25=Amy C. |last26=Benedet |first26=Fabrice |last27=Bitariho |first27=Robert |last28=Bocko |first28=Yannick E. |last29=Boeckx |first29=Pascal |last30=Boundja |first30=Patrick |last31=Brienen |first31=Roel J. 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+* 10 March – Scientists publish evidence that even large ecosystems can collapse on relatively short timescales. Their paper suggests that once a 'point of no return' is reached, the [[Amazon rainforest]] could shift to a [[savannah]]-type mixture of trees and grass within 50 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/10/ecosystems-size-of-amazon-rainforest-can-collapse-within-decades|title=Ecosystems the size of Amazon 'can collapse within decades'|date=10 March 2020|access-date=10 March 2020|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/bu-arc030920.php|title=Amazon rainforest could be gone within a lifetime|date=10 March 2020|access-date=10 March 2020|work=EurekAlert!}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ecosystems the size of Amazon 'can collapse within decades' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/10/ecosystems-size-of-amazon-rainforest-can-collapse-within-decades |website=The Guardian |accessdate=13 April 2020 |language=en |date=10 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Gregory S. |last2=Willcock |first2=Simon |last3=Dearing |first3=John A. |title=Regime shifts occur disproportionately faster in larger ecosystems |journal=Nature Communications |date=10 March 2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=1175 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-15029-x |pmid=32157098 |pmc=7064493 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.1175C |language=en |issn=2041-1723}}</ref>
+* 10 March – Researchers show when, where, and how [[mangrove forest]]s [[Flood control|reduce risks of flooding]] at coastlines worldwide, evaluate the economic value thereof and illustrate ways to fund mangrove protection with economic incentives, insurance, and climate risk financing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Research shows mangrove conservation can pay for itself in flood protection |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-03-mangrove.html |accessdate=5 April 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="SR-20200310">{{cite journal |last1=Menéndez |first1=Pelayo |last2=Losada |first2=Iñigo J. |last3=Torres-Ortega |first3=Saul |last4=Narayan |first4=Siddharth |last5=Beck |first5=Michael W. |title=The Global Flood Protection Benefits of Mangroves |journal=Scientific Reports |date=10 March 2020 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=4404 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-61136-6 |pmid=32157114 |pmc=7064529 |bibcode=2020NatSR..10.4404M |language=en |issn=2045-2322}}</ref>
+* 16 March – Researchers publish a paper in which they evaluate the potential for carbon sequestration in [[soil]]s and found that [[soil health|properly managed soils]] would be a [[Nature-based solutions|natural climate solution]] which could contribute a quarter of [[Carbon sequestration|absorption]] on land – 5.5 billion tonnes annually. Roughly 40 percent of this absorption could be achieved by preserving existing soil instead of using it for agriculture and plantation growth. The researchers recommend strategies for slowing or halting ongoing expansion of such land-use and shifting [[Incentive|incentive structures]] in agriculture towards payments for ecosystem-related services.<ref>{{cite news |title=Restore soil to absorb billions of tonnes of carbon: study |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-03-soil-absorb-billions-tonnes-carbon.html |accessdate=5 April 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bossio |first1=D. A. |last2=Cook-Patton |first2=S. C. |last3=Ellis |first3=P. W. |last4=Fargione |first4=J. |last5=Sanderman |first5=J. |last6=Smith |first6=P. |last7=Wood |first7=S. |last8=Zomer |first8=R. J. |last9=von Unger |first9=M. |last10=Emmer |first10=I. M. |last11=Griscom |first11=B. W. |title=The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions |journal=Nature Sustainability |date=16 March 2020 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1038/s41893-020-0491-z }}</ref>
+* 19 March – Satellite data show that [[air pollution]] was reduced significantly in countries worldwide after [[lockdown]]s and other interventions [[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment#Air pollution|due to]] the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. The sudden shift has been called the "largest scale experiment ever" in terms of the reduction of industrial emissions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Watts |first1=Jonathan |last2=Kommenda |first2=Niko |title=Coronavirus pandemic leading to huge drop in air pollution |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/23/coronavirus-pandemic-leading-to-huge-drop-in-air-pollution |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=23 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Satellite animation shows air pollution in China and Italy clearing amid coronavirus lockdowns |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-satellite-animation-shows-pollution-clearing-over-china-and-italy/ |accessdate=7 April 2020 |work=www.cbsnews.com}}</ref>
+* 26 March – A third [[Coral bleaching|mass coral bleaching event]] in five years is recorded at the [[Great Barrier Reef]].<ref name="BBC-20200326">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-52043554|title=Great Barrier Reef suffers third mass bleaching in five years|date=26 March 2020|access-date=26 March 2020|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/news-room/latest-news/latest-news/coral-bleaching/2020/statement-coral-bleaching-on-the-great-barrier-reef|title=Statement: coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef|date=26 March 2020|access-date=26 March 2020|work=GBRMPA}}</ref>
+* 1 April – A [[scientific review]] finds that substantial recovery for most components of marine ecosystems within two to three decades can be achieved if climate change is addressed adequately and efficient interventions are deployed at large scale. It documents the recovery of marine populations, habitats and ecosystems following past conservation interventions, identifies nine components integral to [[Marine conservation|conservation]] and recovery and recommend actions along with opportunities, benefits, possible roadblocks and remedial actions. The researchers caution about a narrow [[window of opportunity]] in which [[decision-making|decisions]] can choose between "a legacy of a resilient and vibrant ocean or an irreversibly disrupted ocean". They assess the [[Sustainable Development Goals#Goal 14: Life below water|goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations]] to be a "doable Grand Challenge for humanity, an ethical obligation and a smart economic objective to achieve a sustainable future".<ref>{{cite news |title=Wrecked sea life could be largely revived in 30 years under action plan, say scientists |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/sea-ocean-marine-life-2050-ecosystem-nature-climate-change-study-a9442601.html |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=The Independent |date=2 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Landmark study concludes marine life can be rebuilt by 2050 |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-landmark-marine-life-rebuilt.html |accessdate=14 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |title=Oceans can be restored to former glory within 30 years, say scientists |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/01/oceans-can-be-restored-to-former-glory-within-30-years-say-scientists |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=1 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duarte |first1=Carlos M. |last2=Agusti |first2=Susana |last3=Barbier |first3=Edward |last4=Britten |first4=Gregory L. |last5=Castilla |first5=Juan Carlos |last6=Gattuso |first6=Jean-Pierre |last7=Fulweiler |first7=Robinson W. |last8=Hughes |first8=Terry P. |last9=Knowlton |first9=Nancy |last10=Lovelock |first10=Catherine E. |last11=Lotze |first11=Heike K. |last12=Predragovic |first12=Milica |last13=Poloczanska |first13=Elvira |last14=Roberts |first14=Callum |last15=Worm |first15=Boris |title=Rebuilding marine life |journal=Nature |date=April 2020 |volume=580 |issue=7801 |pages=39–51 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2146-7 |pmid=32238939 |bibcode=2020Natur.580...39D |s2cid=214736503 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02502619/file/MergedFinalFile.pdf }}</ref>
+* 1 April – Researchers report to have discovered and analysed fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores which indicate that rainforests existed near the [[South Pole]] ca. 90 million years ago during the [[Cretaceous]] period. [[Paleoclimatology|Their findings suggest that the climate was exceptionally warm at the time]] and that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were substantially higher than expected during the mid-Cretaceous period, 115-80 million years ago.<ref>{{cite news |title=Traces of ancient rainforest in Antarctica point to a warmer prehistoric world |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-ancient-rainforest-antarctica-warmer-prehistoric.html |accessdate=14 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="bbc-rainforest">{{cite news |last1=Amos |first1=Jonathan |title=Dinosaurs walked through Antarctic rainforests |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52125369 |accessdate=14 May 2020 |work=BBC News |date=1 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Strickland |first1=Ashley |title=Evidence of ancient rainforests found in Antarctica |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/01/world/antarctica-ancient-rainforest-scn/index.html |accessdate=14 May 2020 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Klages |first1=Johann P. |last2=Salzmann |first2=Ulrich |last3=Bickert |first3=Torsten |last4=Hillenbrand |first4=Claus-Dieter |last5=Gohl |first5=Karsten |last6=Kuhn |first6=Gerhard |last7=Bohaty |first7=Steven M. |last8=Titschack |first8=Jürgen |last9=Müller |first9=Juliane |last10=Frederichs |first10=Thomas |last11=Bauersachs |first11=Thorsten |last12=Ehrmann |first12=Werner |last13=van de Flierdt |first13=Tina |last14=Pereira |first14=Patric Simões |last15=Larter |first15=Robert D. |last16=Lohmann |first16=Gerrit |last17=Niezgodzki |first17=Igor |last18=Uenzelmann-Neben |first18=Gabriele |last19=Zundel |first19=Maximilian |last20=Spiegel |first20=Cornelia |last21=Mark |first21=Chris |last22=Chew |first22=David |last23=Francis |first23=Jane E. |last24=Nehrke |first24=Gernot |last25=Schwarz |first25=Florian |last26=Smith |first26=James A. |last27=Freudenthal |first27=Tim |last28=Esper |first28=Oliver |last29=Pälike |first29=Heiko |last30=Ronge |first30=Thomas A. |last31=Dziadek |first31=Ricarda |title=Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth |journal=Nature |date=April 2020 |volume=580 |issue=7801 |pages=81–86 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5 |pmid=32238944 |bibcode=2020Natur.580...81K |s2cid=214736648 }}</ref>
+* 6 April – Scientists using data from the [[Sentinel-5 Precursor|Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite]] report [[Ozone depletion|a "mini-hole" in the ozone layer]] over the Arctic, likely caused by unusual atmospheric conditions, including freezing temperatures in the stratosphere.<ref>{{cite news |title=In not so good news for earth, unusual mini-ozone hole opens over Arctic |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/science%20technology/in-not-so-good-news-for-earth-unusual-mini-ozone-hole-opens-over-arctic-69724 |accessdate=15 May 2020 |work=The Tribune India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Unusual ozone hole opens over the Arctic |url=https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Unusual_ozone_hole_opens_over_the_Arctic |website=www.esa.int |accessdate=15 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
+* 7 April – Scientists report the results of a survey of the [[Great Barrier Reef]]. For the first time, all its three regions experienced [[coral bleaching|severe bleaching]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Climate change triggers Great Barrier Reef bleaching – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies |url=https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/climate-change-triggers-great-barrier-reef-bleaching |website=www.coralcoe.org.au |accessdate=12 May 2020}}</ref> On March 25 – day three of the nine-day survey – they reported its third mass bleaching event within five years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Great Barrier Reef suffers third mass coral bleaching event in five years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/25/great-barrier-reef-suffers-third-mass-coral-bleaching-event-in-five-years |accessdate=12 May 2020 |work=the Guardian |date=25 March 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
+* 13 April – A study which included aircraft measurements of [[methane emissions]] from offshore oil and gas platforms collected over the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in January 2018 indicates that the United States via the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) underestimated methane emissions at the time from these sites by a factor of 2. They attribute the discrepancy between regional airborne estimates and their data as well as their estimations for total methane emissions from these sites and the GHGI estimations adjusted for 2018 to incomplete platform counts and emission factors that underestimate emissions for shallow water platforms and don't account for disproportionately high emissions from large shallow water facilities.<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. underestimates methane emissions from offshore oil industry -study |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-methane-study/us-underestimates-methane-emissions-from-offshore-oil-industry-study-idUSL2N2C112G |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=Reuters |date=13 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Offshore oil and gas platforms release more methane than previously estimated |url=https://news.umich.edu/offshore-oil-and-gas-platforms-release-more-methane-than-previously-estimated/ |website=University of Michigan News |accessdate=16 May 2020 |date=14 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Offshore oil platforms spew lots of methane |url=https://www.futurity.org/offshore-oil-platforms-gulf-of-mexico-methane-2336032/ |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=Futurity |date=14 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Offshore oil and gas platforms release more methane than previously estimated |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-offshore-oil-gas-platforms-methane.html |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gorchov Negron |first1=Alan M. |last2=Kort |first2=Eric A. |last3=Conley |first3=Stephen A. |last4=Smith |first4=Mackenzie L. |title=Airborne Assessment of Methane Emissions from Offshore Platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico |journal=Environmental Science & Technology |date=21 April 2020 |volume=54 |issue=8 |pages=5112–5120 |doi=10.1021/acs.est.0c00179 |pmid=32281379 |bibcode=2020EnST...54.5112G |issn=0013-936X|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 15 April – Scientists report that the [[Greenland ice sheet]] lost around 600 billion tonnes of water in 2019, which would raise sea levels by about 1.5 millimetres and make up ca. 40% of the year's total [[sea level rise]]. The runoff ranked second only after the exceptional year 2012. The study affirms the exceptional nature of the 2019 season and shows that high-pressure atmospheric conditions over [[Greenland]] due to changing atmospheric circulation patterns – which have become more frequent due to [[global warming|climate change]] – were a cause of the melting next to the warmer temperatures. This suggests that scientists may be underestimating the melting of Greenland's ice – likely by a factor of two according to co-author Xavier Fettweis.<ref>{{cite news |title=Alarms ring as Greenland ice loss causes 40% of 2019 sea level rise |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-alarms-greenland-ice-loss-sea.html |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Greenland ice sheet shrinks by record amount: climate study |url=https://in.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-greenland/greenland-ice-sheet-shrinks-by-record-amount-climate-study-idINKCN21X1UG |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=Reuters |date=15 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tedesco |first1=Marco |last2=Fettweis |first2=Xavier |title=Unprecedented atmospheric conditions (1948–2019) drive the 2019 exceptional melting season over the Greenland ice sheet |journal=The Cryosphere |date=15 April 2020 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=1209–1223 |doi=10.5194/tc-14-1209-2020 |bibcode=2020TCry...14.1209T |url=https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1209/2020/ |accessdate=16 May 2020 |language=English |issn=1994-0416|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 16 April – Australia's [[Morrison Government]] announces the launch of the [[research and development]] phase of its Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program after a two-year feasibility study. The selected 43 strategies of the program include [[climate engineering]] concepts such as [[Marine cloud brightening|brightening clouds with salt crystals]], technologies to increase survival rate of coral larvae, coral seeding strategies and methods to facilitate faster recovery of coral reefs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Readfearn |first1=Graham |title=Artificial fog and breeding coral: study picks best Great Barrier Reef rescue ideas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/16/brightening-clouds-and-coral-larvae-study-picks-best-great-barrier-reef-rescue-ideas |accessdate=13 May 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=15 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Joint Media Release: $150 million to drive innovations to boost Reef resilience {{!}} Ministers |url=https://minister.awe.gov.au/ley/media-releases/150-million-drive-innovations-boost-reef-resilience |website=minister.awe.gov.au |accessdate=13 May 2020}}</ref> The [[Australian Marine Conservation Society]] welcomed the work but remarked that policies which address global warming – the main cause of increasingly severe and frequent mass coral bleaching events – should be prioritised, that the projects could take years or decades to develop and that solutions to climate change – such as renewable energies – are already available.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fight to save Great Barrier Reef after third bleaching event |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/fight-to-save-great-barrier-reef-after-third-bleaching-event/news-story/ae4bdbcef4d98863504ecade0dbc41eb |website=NewsComAu |accessdate=13 May 2020 |language=en |date=21 April 2020}}</ref>
+* 17 April – Researchers report that the 2000–2018 Southwestern North American drought was the second driest 19-year period since 800 CE, exceeded only by a late-1500s megadrought and that [[anthropogenic climate change|anthropogenic trends in temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation]] estimated from 31 [[climate model]]s account for approximately 47% of the 2000–2018 drought severity.<ref>{{cite news |title=Climate-driven megadrought is emerging in western US, study says |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-climate-driven-megadrought-emerging-western.html |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Fountain |first1=Henry |title=Southwest Drought Rivals Those of Centuries Ago, Thanks to Climate Change |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/climate/drought-southwest-climate-change.html |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=16 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Freedman |first1=Andrew |last2=Fears |first2=Darryl |title=The western U.S. is locked in the grips of the first human-caused megadrought, study finds |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/04/16/southwest-megadrought-climate-change/ |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=Washington Post |date=16 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=A. Park |last2=Cook |first2=Edward R. |last3=Smerdon |first3=Jason E. |last4=Cook |first4=Benjamin I. |last5=Abatzoglou |first5=John T. |last6=Bolles |first6=Kasey |last7=Baek |first7=Seung H. |last8=Badger |first8=Andrew M. |last9=Livneh |first9=Ben |title=Large contribution from anthropogenic warming to an emerging North American megadrought |journal=Science |date=17 April 2020 |volume=368 |issue=6488 |pages=314–318 |doi=10.1126/science.aaz9600 |pmid=32299953 |bibcode=2020Sci...368..314W |s2cid=215789824 }}</ref>
+* 19 April – Researchers report that [[Climate change in the Arctic|the Arctic Ocean will likely be occasionally sea-ice free in summers]] before 2050 in scenarios where global warming is kept below 2&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{cite news |title=North Pole soon to be ice free in summer |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-north-pole-ice-free-summer.html |accessdate=17 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Arctic Sea Ice in CMIP6 |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |date=2020 |volume=47 |issue=10 |pages=e2019GL086749 |doi=10.1029/2019GL086749 |doi-access=free |author=SIMIP Community |bibcode=2020GeoRL..4786749C }}</ref>
+* 20 April – Researchers report that Eurasian ice sheet collapse was a major source [[meltwater pulse 1A]] [[sea level rise]] 14,600 years ago, causing up to half of the ca. 16 meter rise.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Scott K. |title=A puzzling past sea level rise might have its missing piece |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/a-puzzling-past-sea-level-rise-might-have-its-missing-piece/ |accessdate=17 May 2020 |work=Ars Technica |date=26 April 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Eurasian ice sheet collapse raised seas eight metres: study |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-eurasian-ice-sheet-collapse-seas.html |accessdate=17 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brendryen |first1=Jo |last2=Haflidason |first2=Haflidi |last3=Yokoyama |first3=Yusuke |last4=Haaga |first4=Kristian Agasøster |last5=Hannisdal |first5=Bjarte |title=Eurasian Ice Sheet collapse was a major source of Meltwater Pulse 1A 14,600 years ago |journal=Nature Geoscience |date=May 2020 |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=363–368 |doi=10.1038/s41561-020-0567-4 |bibcode=2020NatGe..13..363B |s2cid=216031874 }}</ref>
+* 20 April – Researchers report that by the end of the 21st century people could be exposed to [[Climate change mitigation|avoidable]] indoor CO2 levels of up to 1400 ppm, which would be triple the amount commonly experienced outdoors today and, according to the authors, may [[Carbon dioxide#Toxicity|cut humans' basic decision-making ability by ~25% and complex strategic thinking by ~50%]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Rising carbon dioxide levels will make us stupider |journal=Nature |date=20 April 2020 |volume=580 |issue=7805 |pages=567 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-01134-w |pmid=32317783 |bibcode=2020Natur.580Q.567. |s2cid=216075495 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rising CO2 causes more than a climate crisis—it may directly harm our ability to think |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-co2-climate-crisisit-ability.html |accessdate=17 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Karnauskas |first1=Kristopher B. |last2=Miller |first2=Shelly L. |last3=Schapiro |first3=Anna C. |title=Fossil Fuel Combustion Is Driving Indoor CO2 Toward Levels Harmful to Human Cognition |journal=GeoHealth |date=2020 |volume=4 |issue=5 |pages=e2019GH000237 |doi=10.1029/2019GH000237 |pmid=32426622 |pmc=7229519 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 22 April – [[Microplastics|Microplastic pollution]] is recorded in [[Antarctic sea ice]] for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Microplastics found for first time in Antarctic ice where krill source food |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/22/microplastics-found-for-first-time-in-antarctic-ice-where-krill-source-food |date=22 April 2020 |accessdate=22 April 2020|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Microplastic pollution recorded for first time in Antarctic sea ice |url=https://www.imas.utas.edu.au/news/news-items/microplastic-pollution-recorded-for-first-time-in-antarctic-sea-ice |date=22 April 2020 |accessdate=22 April 2020|work=University of Tasmania}}</ref>
+* 22 April – After studying the [[2018 lower Puna eruption|2018 Kīlauea volcano eruption]] researchers report that extreme rainfall can modulate volcanic activity.<ref>{{cite news |title=Excessive rain triggered 2018 Kīlauea volcano eruption, study finds |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-excessive-triggered-klauea-volcano-eruption.html |accessdate=17 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farquharson |first1=Jamie I. |last2=Amelung |first2=Falk |title=Extreme rainfall triggered the 2018 rift eruption at Kīlauea Volcano |journal=Nature |date=April 2020 |volume=580 |issue=7804 |pages=491–495 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2172-5 |pmid=32322079 |bibcode=2020Natur.580..491F |s2cid=216076767 }}</ref>
+* 22 April – A study using [[Earth observation satellite|satellite data]] shows that oil and gas operations in the United States' [[Permian Basin (North America)|Permian Basin]] are releasing the greenhouse gas [[methane]] at twice the average rate found in earlier studies of 11 other major oil and gas regions of the United States. According to the authors insufficient infrastructure to process and transport natural gas may be one cause of the high rate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Satellite data show 'highest emissions ever measured' from U.S. oil and gas operations |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-satellite-highest-emissions-oil-gas.html |accessdate=17 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yuzhong |last2=Gautam |first2=Ritesh |last3=Pandey |first3=Sudhanshu |last4=Omara |first4=Mark |last5=Maasakkers |first5=Joannes D. |last6=Sadavarte |first6=Pankaj |last7=Lyon |first7=David |last8=Nesser |first8=Hannah |last9=Sulprizio |first9=Melissa P. |last10=Varon |first10=Daniel J. |last11=Zhang |first11=Ruixiong |last12=Houweling |first12=Sander |last13=Zavala-Araiza |first13=Daniel |last14=Alvarez |first14=Ramon A. |last15=Lorente |first15=Alba |last16=Hamburg |first16=Steven P. |last17=Aben |first17=Ilse |last18=Jacob |first18=Daniel J. |title=Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space |journal=Science Advances |date=1 April 2020 |volume=6 |issue=17 |pages=eaaz5120 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120 |pmid=32494644 |pmc=7176423 |bibcode=2020SciA....6.5120Z |doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 30 April – The first results from ice-monitoring satellite [[ICESat-2]] are published, showing that melting in [[Antarctic ice sheet|Antarctica]] and [[Greenland ice sheet|Greenland]] has contributed 14&nbsp;mm (0.55&nbsp;in) of global sea level rise since 2003.<ref>{{cite news |title=First results from NASA's ICESat-2 mission map 16 years of melting ice sheets |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/uow-frf042420.php |date=30 April 2020 |work=EurekAlert! |accessdate=1 May 2020 }}</ref>
+* 30 April –Scientists report that one of the [[climate model]]s – the [[CMIP6]] model [[Community Earth System Model|CESM2]] – is not supported by [[paleoclimate]] records. Comparing simulations of this model with geological evidence suggests that its [[climate sensitivity]] is too high. This indicates that this model may not perform realistically at high CO2 concentrations, overestimating global warming at high levels of CO2 where its [[equilibrium climate sensitivity]] is 5.3&nbsp;°C and modelled [[tropical climate|tropical land temperature]] exceeds 55&nbsp;°C. They recommend using paleoclimate constraints of past warm and cold climates to [[benchmarking|benchmark]] the performance of CMIP6 climate models.<ref>{{cite news |title=Some of the latest climate models provide unrealistically high projections of future warming |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-04-latest-climate-unrealistically-high-future.html |accessdate=18 May 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=Jiang |last2=Poulsen |first2=Christopher J. |last3=Otto-Bliesner |first3=Bette L. |title=High climate sensitivity in CMIP6 model not supported by paleoclimate |journal=Nature Climate Change |date=May 2020 |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=378–379 |doi=10.1038/s41558-020-0764-6 |bibcode=2020NatCC..10..378Z |s2cid=217167140 }}</ref>
+* 4 May – Researchers project that regions inhabited by a third of the human population could become as hot as the hottest parts of the [[Sahara]] within 50 years without a change in patterns [[Projections of population growth|of population growth]] and [[Effects of global warming#Migration|without]] [[human migration|migration]], [[Representative Concentration Pathway|unless]] [[climate change mitigation|greenhouse gas emissions are reduced]]. The projected annual average temperature of above 29&nbsp;°C for these regions would be outside the "human temperature niche" and the most affected regions have little [[adaptation to climate change|adaptive]] capacity as of 2020.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52543589|title=Climate change: More than 3bn could live in extreme heat by 2070|date=5 May 2020|accessdate=6 May 2020|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/news/articles/near-unlivableheatforone-.html|title='Near-unlivable' heat for one-third of humans within 50 years if greenhouse gas emissions are not cut|date=4 May 2020|accessdate=6 May 2020|work=University of Exeter}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://phys.org/news/2020-05-billions-unlivable.html|title=Billions projected to suffer nearly unlivable heat in 2070|date=4 May 2020|accessdate=6 May 2020|work=Phys.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Chi |last2=Kohler |first2=Timothy A. |last3=Lenton |first3=Timothy M. |last4=Svenning |first4=Jens-Christian |last5=Scheffer |first5=Marten |title=Future of the human climate niche |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=26 May 2020 |volume=117 |issue=21 |pages=11350–11355 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1910114117 |pmid=32366654 |pmc=7260949 |language=en |issn=0027-8424|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 8 May – Researchers show that [[Wet-bulb temperature#Wet-bulb temperature and health|wet-bulb temperatures (TW) above the upper physiological limit of humans]] have already occurred in some coastal subtropical locations despite [[climate model]]s projecting such to occur only by the mid-21st century. These combinations of humidity and heat above a TW of 35&nbsp;°C are likely to be fatal even to fit and healthy people when exposure is sustained and have more than doubled in frequency since 1979 overall, [[weather station]] data shows.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Andrea |title=Heat and Humidity Are Already Reaching the Limits of Human Tolerance |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heat-and-humidity-are-already-reaching-the-limits-of-human-tolerance/ |accessdate=15 June 2020 |work=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Potentially fatal combinations of humidity and heat are emerging across the globe |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-05-potentially-fatal-combinations-humidity-emerging.html |accessdate=12 June 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="noaa-tw">{{cite news |title=Dangerous humid heat extremes occurring decades before expected - Welcome to NOAA Research |url=https://research.noaa.gov/News/ArtMID/451/ArticleID/2621/Dangerous-humid-heat-extremes-occurring-decades-before-expected |accessdate=12 June 2020 |work=research.noaa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Raymond |first1=Colin |last2=Matthews |first2=Tom |last3=Horton |first3=Radley M. |title=The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance |journal=Science Advances |date=1 May 2020 |volume=6 |issue=19 |pages=eaaw1838 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aaw1838 |pmid=32494693 |pmc=7209987 |doi-access=free }}</ref><!--A wet-bulb temperature refers to the lowest temperature that can be reached under current [[ambient pressure|ambient conditions]] by the evaporation of water only.-->
+* 13 May – Scientists report to [[Experimental evolution|have evolved]] 10 clonal strains of a common coral [[microalga]]l [[endosymbiont]]s at elevated temperatures for 4 years, increasing their thermal tolerance for [[climate resilience]]. Three of the strains increased the [[coral bleaching|corals' bleaching tolerance]] after reintroduction into coral host larvae. Their strains and findings may potentially be relevant for the [[adaptation to climate change|adaptation]] to and [[mitigation of climate change|mitigation]] of climate change and further tests of algal strains in adult colonies across a range of coral species are planned.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scientists successfully develop 'heat resistant' coral to fight bleaching |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-05-scientists-successfully-resistant-coral.html |accessdate=12 June 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cornwall |first1=Warren |title=Lab-evolved algae could protect coral reefs |journal=Science |date=13 May 2020 |doi=10.1126/science.abc7842 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buerger |first1=P. |last2=Alvarez-Roa |first2=C. |last3=Coppin |first3=C. W. |last4=Pearce |first4=S. L. |last5=Chakravarti |first5=L. J. |last6=Oakeshott |first6=J. G. |last7=Edwards |first7=O. R. |last8=Oppen |first8=M. J. H. van |title=Heat-evolved microalgal symbionts increase coral bleaching tolerance |journal=Science Advances |date=1 May 2020 |volume=6 |issue=20 |pages=eaba2498 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aba2498 |pmid=32426508 |pmc=7220355 |bibcode=2020SciA....6A2498B |doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 19 May – Researchers report a temporary 17% drop in daily [[List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions|global CO{{sub|2}} emissions]] by early April 2020 compared with the mean 2019 levels [[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment|during]] the [[COVID-19 lockdown|COVID-19 forced confinements]]. At the peak of the interventions, where 89% of global emissions were in areas under some confinement, emissions in individual countries decreased by –26% on average. Estimations on the impact on 2020 annual emissions are between -2% and -13%. The largest reductions were due to reductions of surface transport.<ref>{{cite news |title=Carbon emissions fall 17% worldwide under coronavirus lockdowns, study finds |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carbon-emissions-fall-coronavirus-lockdowns-worldwide/ |accessdate=14 June 2020 |work=www.cbsnews.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=COVID-19 crisis causes 17% drop in global carbon emissions: study |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-05-covid-crisis-global-carbon-emissions.html |accessdate=14 June 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Le Quéré |first1=Corinne |last2=Jackson |first2=Robert B. |last3=Jones |first3=Matthew W. |last4=Smith |first4=Adam J. P. |last5=Abernethy |first5=Sam |last6=Andrew |first6=Robbie M. |last7=De-Gol |first7=Anthony J. |last8=Willis |first8=David R. |last9=Shan |first9=Yuli |last10=Canadell |first10=Josep G. |last11=Friedlingstein |first11=Pierre |last12=Creutzig |first12=Felix |last13=Peters |first13=Glen P. |title=Temporary reduction in daily global CO 2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement |journal=Nature Climate Change |date=19 May 2020 |volume=10 |issue=7 |pages=647–653 |doi=10.1038/s41558-020-0797-x |bibcode=2020NatCC..10..647L |doi-access=free }}</ref> Despite of this on May 4 [[United Nations Climate Change conference|UN Climate Change]] reports that the CO{{sub|2}} concentration in the atmosphere reached an all-time daily high of the ca. 60-year record on May 3.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Calma |first1=Justine |title=Even with people staying in, carbon dioxide is breaking records |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/7/21251188/carbon-dioxide-breaking-records-climate-change-coronavirus |accessdate=14 June 2020 |work=The Verge |date=7 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
+* 20 May – Researchers report estimations of green [[snow algae]] community biomass and distribution along the [[Antarctic Peninsula]] and project a net increase in their extent and biomass and coastal Antarctica turning more green due to [[climate change]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Watts |first1=Jonathan |title=Climate change is turning parts of Antarctica green, say scientists |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/20/climate-change-turning-parts-antarctica-green-say-scientists-algae |accessdate=13 June 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=20 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Climate change will turn coastal Antarctica green, say scientists |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-05-climate-coastal-antarctica-green-scientists.html |accessdate=13 June 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=Andrew |last2=Krolikowski |first2=Monika |last3=Fretwell |first3=Peter |last4=Convey |first4=Peter |last5=Peck |first5=Lloyd S. |last6=Mendelova |first6=Monika |last7=Smith |first7=Alison G. |last8=Davey |first8=Matthew P. |title=Remote sensing reveals Antarctic green snow algae as important terrestrial carbon sink |journal=Nature Communications |date=20 May 2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=2527 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-16018-w |pmid=32433543 |pmc=7239900 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.2527G |doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 1 June – Researchers publish a study using data on verterbrates [[Endangered species|on the brink to extinction]] and on verterbrates that recently became extinct, in which they conclude that a human-caused potential [[sixth mass extinction]], which was claimed to be emerging by researchers of the study in 2015, is likely accelerating and suggest a number of reasons for that including extinctions causing further extinctions. They reemphasize "extreme urgency of taking much-expanded worldwide actions".<ref name="nyt-massextinction">{{cite news |last1=Nuwer |first1=Rachel |title=Mass Extinctions Are Accelerating, Scientists Report |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/science/mass-extinctions-are-accelerating-scientists-report.html |accessdate=2 July 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=1 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Study finds sixth mass extinction accelerating at unprecedented rate |url=https://newatlas.com/environment/study-sixth-mass-extinction-event-accelerating/ |accessdate=2 July 2020 |work=New Atlas |date=2 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ceballos |first1=Gerardo |last2=Ehrlich |first2=Paul R. |last3=Raven |first3=Peter H. |title=Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=16 June 2020 |volume=117 |issue=24 |pages=13596–13602 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1922686117 |pmid=32482862 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11713596C |url=https://www.pnas.org/content/117/24/13596 |accessdate=2 July 2020 |language=en |issn=0027-8424|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 8 June – Researchers report results consistent with the hypothesis that [[pesticide]]s contribute to [[monarch butterfly]] [[insect decline|declines]] in the western United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Milkweed, only food source for monarch caterpillars, ubiquitously contaminated |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-06-milkweed-food-source-monarch-caterpillars.html |accessdate=4 July 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Halsch |first1=Christopher A. |last2=Code |first2=Aimee |last3=Hoyle |first3=Sarah M. |last4=Fordyce |first4=James A. |last5=Baert |first5=Nicolas |last6=Forister |first6=Matthew L. |title=Pesticide Contamination of Milkweeds Across the Agricultural, Urban, and Open Spaces of Low-Elevation Northern California |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |date=2020 |volume=8 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2020.00162 |doi-access=free }} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]]  Text and images are available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref>
+* 13 June – Scientists report that early [[supercomputer]] [[climate model|climate modelling results]] that are being compiled for the sixth assessment by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by more than 20 institutions due to be released in 2021 suggest a higher [[climate sensitivity]] than previously believed with 25% of the models showing a sharp upward shift from 3&nbsp;°C to 5&nbsp;°C in climate sensitivity supporting or revising worst-case [[Climate change scenario|projections]] of over 5&nbsp;°C of [[global warming]]. The projections of more future warming may be due to a [[Cloud formation and climate change|role of]] [[cloud]]s. According to a study published on 24 June [[cloud feedback]]s and cloud-aerosol interactions are the most likely contributors to the high values and increased range of equilibrium climate sensitivity in the [[CMIP6]] model.<ref>{{cite news |title=Clouds May Be the Key to a Climate Modeling Mystery |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/clouds-may-be-the-key-to-a-climate-modeling-mystery/ |accessdate=2 July 2020 |work=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Climate worst-case scenarios may not go far enough, cloud data shows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/13/climate-worst-case-scenarios-clouds-scientists-global-heating |accessdate=2 July 2020 |work=the Guardian |date=13 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meehl |first1=Gerald A. |last2=Senior |first2=Catherine A. |last3=Eyring |first3=Veronika |last4=Flato |first4=Gregory |last5=Lamarque |first5=Jean-Francois |last6=Stouffer |first6=Ronald J. |last7=Taylor |first7=Karl E. |last8=Schlund |first8=Manuel |title=Context for interpreting equilibrium climate sensitivity and transient climate response from the CMIP6 Earth system models |journal=Science Advances |date=1 June 2020 |volume=6 |issue=26 |pages=eaba1981 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aba1981 |pmid=32637602 |pmc=7314520 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
+* 17 June – Results of a study indicate greater regional anthropogenic carbon storage in and [[ocean acidification]] of the [[Climate change in the Arctic|Arctic Ocean]] than previously projected.<ref>{{cite news |title=Arctic Ocean acidification worse than expected |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-06-arctic-ocean-acidification-worse.html |accessdate=5 July 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Terhaar |first1=Jens |last2=Kwiatkowski |first2=Lester |last3=Bopp |first3=Laurent |title=Emergent constraint on Arctic Ocean acidification in the twenty-first century |journal=Nature |date=June 2020 |volume=582 |issue=7812 |pages=379–383 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2360-3 |pmid=32555488 |s2cid=219729997 }}</ref>
+* 19 June – Scientists, as part of a [[World Scientists' Warning to Humanity]]-associated series, warn that worldwide growth in [[affluence]] has increased [[resource use]] and [[pollutant|pollutant emissions]] with affluent [[global citizen|citizens of the world]] – in terms of e.g. resource-intensive consumption – being responsible for most negative environmental impacts and central to a transition to safer, [[sustainability|sustainable]] conditions. They summarise evidence, present solution approaches and state that far-reaching [[Lifestyle (sociology)|lifestyle]] [[Behavioural change theories|changes]] need to [[Technology and society|complement technological advancements]] and that existing societies, economies and cultures [[incentive|incite]] [[overconsumption|consumption expansion]] and that the [[Structural change|structural imperative]] for [[Economic growth|growth]] in [[Competition (economics)|competitive]] [[market economy|market economies]] inhibits [[societal change]].<ref name="phys-affluence">{{cite news |title=Affluence is killing the planet, warn scientists |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-06-affluence-planet-scientists.html |accessdate=5 July 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Overconsumption and growth economy key drivers of environmental crises |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-06-overconsumption-growth-economy-key-drivers.html |accessdate=5 July 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wiedmann |first1=Thomas |last2=Lenzen |first2=Manfred |last3=Keyßer |first3=Lorenz T. |last4=Steinberger |first4=Julia K. |title=Scientists' warning on affluence |journal=Nature Communications |date=19 June 2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=3107 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-16941-y |pmid=32561753 |pmc=7305220 |doi-access=free }} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]]  Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref>
+* 23 June – The [[World Meteorological Organization]] announces a possible new temperature-record of 38&nbsp;°C north of the [[Arctic Circle]], which it seeks to verify and assess. It was reported on 20 June in [[Verkhoyansk]], Russia amid a prolonged Siberian heatwave and an increase in wildfire activity.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Arctic is on fire: Siberian heat wave alarms scientists |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-06-arctic-siberian-alarms-scientists.html |accessdate=5 July 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Temperature hits 100 F degrees in Arctic Russian town |url=https://apnews.com/45ffaf65b4f0301a41c4db02fa0ad2c7 |accessdate=5 July 2020 |work=AP NEWS |date=21 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Reported new record temperature of 38°C north of Arctic Circle |url=https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/reported-new-record-temperature-of-38%C2%B0c-north-of-arctic-circle |publisher=WMO |accessdate=5 July 2020}}</ref>
+* 3 July – Via [[Earth observation satellite#Environmental monitoring|analysis of satellite images]], scientists show that [[Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil|certified "sustainable" palm oil]] production [[Social and environmental impact of palm oil|resulted]] in [[deforestation]] of tropical forests of [[Sumatra]] and [[Borneo]] and endangered mammals' habitat degradation in the last 30 years.<ref name="palmoilsust">{{cite news |title=Certified 'sustainable' palm oil fields endanger mammal habitats and biodiverse tropical forests over 30 years |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-07-certified-sustainable-palm-oil-fields.html |accessdate=16 August 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cazzolla Gatti |first1=Roberto |last2=Velichevskaya |first2=Alena |journal=Science of the Total Environment |date=10 November 2020 |volume=742 |pages=140712 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140712 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720342340|title=Certified "sustainable" palm oil took the place of endangered Bornean and Sumatran large mammals habitat and tropical forests in the last 30 years  |accessdate=16 August 2020 |language=en |issn=0048-9697}}</ref>
+* 8 July – The [[World Meteorological Organisation]] (WMO) announces that it assesses a 20% chance that [[global warming]] compared to pre-industrial levels will exceed 1.5&nbsp;°C in at least one year within the five years of 2020-2024. 1.5&nbsp;°C is often considered to be a key threshold of global warming and nations have agreed to attempt limiting contemporary climate change to it under the [[Paris Agreement]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Woodyatt |first1=Amy |title=Global temperatures could exceed crucial 1.5 C target in the next five years |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/09/world/global-temperatures-wmo-climate-intl-scli/index.html |accessdate=15 August 2020 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New climate predictions assess global temperatures in coming five years |url=https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/new-climate-predictions-assess-global-temperatures-coming-five-years |website=World Meteorological Organization |accessdate=15 August 2020 |language=en |date=8 July 2020}}</ref>
+* 8 July – Scientists assess that the [[geoengineering]] technique of [[Enhanced weathering|enhanced rock weathering]] – spreading finely crushed [[basalt]] on fields – has potential use for [[carbon dioxide removal]] by nations, identifying costs, opportunities and engineering challenges.<ref>{{cite news |title=Applying rock dust to croplands could absorb up to 2 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-07-croplands-absorb-billion-tonnes-co2.html |accessdate=16 August 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beerling |first1=David J. |last2=Kantzas |first2=Euripides P. |last3=Lomas |first3=Mark R. |last4=Wade |first4=Peter |last5=Eufrasio |first5=Rafael M. |last6=Renforth |first6=Phil |last7=Sarkar |first7=Binoy |last8=Andrews |first8=M. Grace |last9=James |first9=Rachael H. |last10=Pearce |first10=Christopher R. |last11=Mercure |first11=Jean-Francois |last12=Pollitt |first12=Hector |last13=Holden |first13=Philip B. |last14=Edwards |first14=Neil R. |last15=Khanna |first15=Madhu |last16=Koh |first16=Lenny |last17=Quegan |first17=Shaun |last18=Pidgeon |first18=Nick F. |last19=Janssens |first19=Ivan A. |last20=Hansen |first20=James |last21=Banwart |first21=Steven A. |title=Potential for large-scale CO 2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands |journal=Nature |date=July 2020 |volume=583 |issue=7815 |pages=242–248 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2448-9 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2448-9 |accessdate=16 August 2020 |language=en |issn=1476-4687}}</ref>
+* 10 July – Scientists report that [[phytoplankton]] [[Marine primary production|primary production]] in the [[Arctic Ocean]] increased by 57% between 1998 and 2018 due to higher concentrations, suggesting the ocean may be able to support [[trophic level#Overview|higher trophic level production]] and additional [[carbon fixation]] in the future.<ref>{{cite news |title=A 'regime shift' is happening in the Arctic Ocean, scientists say |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-07-regime-shift-arctic-ocean-scientists.html |accessdate=16 August 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=K. M. |last2=Dijken |first2=G. L. van |last3=Arrigo |first3=K. R. |title=Changes in phytoplankton concentration now drive increased Arctic Ocean primary production |journal=Science |date=10 July 2020 |volume=369 |issue=6500 |pages=198–202 |doi=10.1126/science.aay8380 |url=https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6500/198 |accessdate=16 August 2020 |language=en |issn=0036-8075}}</ref>
+* 15 July – In two studies researchers of the [[Global Carbon Project]] summarise and analyse new estimates of the [[Methane emissions|global methane budget]] and provide data and insights on sources and sinks for the geographical regions and economic sectors where the rising anthropogenic methane emissions have changed the most over recent decades. According to the studies, global methane emissions for the 2008 to 2017 decade increased by almost 10 percent compared to the previous decade.<ref>{{cite news |title=Global methane emissions soar to record high |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-07-global-methane-emissions-soar-high.html |accessdate=16 August 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="methanebudget">{{cite news |title=Methane Emissions Continue to Rise |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146978/methane-emissions-continue-to-rise |accessdate=19 August 2020 |work=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |date=14 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=R B |last2=Saunois |first2=M |last3=Bousquet |first3=P |last4=Canadell |first4=J G |last5=Poulter |first5=B |last6=Stavert |first6=A R |last7=Bergamaschi |first7=P |last8=Niwa |first8=Y |last9=Segers |first9=A |last10=Tsuruta |first10=A |title=Increasing anthropogenic methane emissions arise equally from agricultural and fossil fuel sources |journal=Environmental Research Letters |date=14 July 2020 |volume=15 |issue=7 |pages=071002 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/ab9ed2 |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9ed2 |accessdate=16 August 2020 |language=en |issn=1748-9326}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]]  Text and images are available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Global Methane Budget 2000–2017 |journal=Earth System Science Data |date=15 July 2020 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=1561–1623 |doi=10.5194/essd-12-1561-2020 |url=https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/12/1561/2020/ |accessdate=19 August 2020 |language=English |issn=1866-3508}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]]  Text and images are available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref><!--91 plain author names removed-->
+* 22 July – Scientists confirm the first active leak of sea-bed [[Methane emissions|methane]] in [[Antarctica]] and report that "the rate of [[Ecological succession#Microsuccession|microbial succession]] may have an unrealized impact on greenhouse gas emission from marine methane reservoirs".<ref name="antarc">{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |title=First active leak of sea-bed methane discovered in Antarctica |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/22/first-active-leak-of-sea-bed-methane-discovered-in-antarctica |accessdate=16 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=21 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thurber |first1=Andrew R. |last2=Seabrook |first2=Sarah |last3=Welsh |first3=Rory M. |title=Riddles in the cold: Antarctic endemism and microbial succession impact methane cycling in the Southern Ocean |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=29 July 2020 |volume=287 |issue=1931 |pages=20201134 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2020.1134 |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.1134 |accessdate=16 August 2020}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]]  Text and images are available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref>
+* 22 July – Scientists report results of a survey of 371 reefs in 58 nations estimating the [[Marine conservation|conservation status of reef sharks globally]]. No sharks have been observed on almost 20% of the surveyed reefs and shark depletion was strongly associated with both socio-economic conditions and conservation measures.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sharks almost gone from many reefs |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-07-sharks-reefs.html |accessdate=17 August 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Global status and conservation potential of reef sharks |journal=Nature |date=July 2020 |volume=583 |issue=7818 |pages=801–806 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2519-y |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2519-y |accessdate=17 August 2020 |language=en |issn=1476-4687}}</ref><!--do not add the 123 plain author names--> Sharks are considered to be a vital part of the ocean ecosystem.
+* 31 July – Two ice caps in [[Nunavut]], Canada [[Climate change in the Arctic|have disappeared]] completely, confirming predictions of a study published in 2017 that they would melt completely within five years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Canadian ice caps disappear, confirming 2017 scientific prediction |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-07-canadian-ice-caps-scientific.html |accessdate=17 August 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref>
+<!--geology items-->
 == Environmental law ==