Extreme weather in 2019 broke over 120,000 records in US: report

by Brooke Seipel - 12/24/19 9:27 PM ET

Extreme weather incidents in 2019 set more than 120,000 daily records across the U.S. according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information.

The 122,055 records set include record daily high and low temperatures as well as record rain and snow.

CNN reported on the record events, noting heat waves that hit Alaska and raised temps to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, a winter storm that brought snow to Hawaii, and rain that flooded the Midwest and hurt crops. {mosads}

The report comes after a year of devastating climate events, from Hurricane Dorian to record melting of ice sheets. Other countries also saw record-breaking heat and cold, and raging fires severely damaged the Amazon rainforest.

But the year also was marked by more climate activism.

Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg was named Time’s “Person of the Year” for her global activism seeking to reverse the effects of manmade global warming, and actress Jane Fonda has launched weekly protests in D.C. demanding change.

The new data from the organization formerly known as the National Climatic Data Center comes after the annual climate report from the United Nations warned that unprecedented measures are needed to reverse climate change.

The report, which compares the globe’s emissions reality to the levels needed to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord, found that greenhouse gas emissions would need to fall by nearly 8 percent each year in order to keep the Earth from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, the report says that target is currently far from reach.

“Every year of delay beyond 2020 brings a need for faster cuts, which become increasingly expensive, unlikely and impractical,” the report states. “Delays will also quickly put the 1.5C goal out of reach.”

In November, President Trump officially pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, fulfilling a promise he had made on the campaign trail.

The move, which will officially go into effect in November 2020, will make the U.S. the only country in the world to reject the international agreement.

Tags Donald Trump extreme weather Paris climate agreement record heat