Last year was the world’s fifth hottest year on record as CO2 levels rose, according to a European Union report.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3) released their findings on Monday, reporting that “the last seven years globally were the seven warmest on record by a clear margin.”

The annual average global temperature was 0.3°C above the temperature between 1991 to 2020, and 1.1°C to 1.2°C above 1850 to 1900 levels.

Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF

Early analysis of satellite measurements show that atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continued to climb, the report found.

With a rise in CO2 levels, Canada is included in the regions with the most above-average temperatures. The CS3 reports that the northeastern part of Canada’s average monthly temperatures were unusually warm at the start of the year and in the fall.

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service/ECMWF

This checks out as Toronto was under a heat warning that lasted for 10 days back in August.

Last summer, BC was also devastated by hundreds of wildfires. According to the report, this was a result of regional hot and dry conditions throughout July and August in western North America.

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“Carbon emissions from wildfires worldwide amounted overall to 1850 megatonnes,” the report stated.

The effects of the rise in global temperatures are seen in the natural disasters we’re seeing more and more of each year. Wildfires and extreme floods that affected BC are just a couple of examples.