UN Confirms , Record Breaking
High Temperatures , Around the World.
NPR reports that the United Nations confirmed
the Arctic hit a new record high temperature
over the summer, reaching over 100F. .
In a December 14 statement, the World Meteorological Organization called the record high temperature reading , "more befitting the Mediterranean than the Arctic.".
According to NPR, the reading was taken in the
Russian town of Verkhoyansk on June 20, 2020.
The temperature was reached amid
a Siberian heatwave which saw the region
reach above-normal temperatures.
This new Arctic record is one of
a series of observations reported
to the WMO Archive of Weather
and Climate Extremes that
sound the alarm bells about
our changing climate. , Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General, via NPR.
In 2020, there was also a new
temperature record (18.3°C)
for the Antarctic continent, Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General, via NPR.
According to the WMO, the Arctic region, "is among the fastest-warming
regions in the world.".
Due to the unprecedented temperatures, the WMO had
to add a new climate category to its database for , "highest recorded temperature at
or north of 66.5⁰, the Arctic Circle." .
The new Arctic record was only one
of many record-breaking high
temperatures reached in 2020 and 2021. .
The island of Sicily broke the record
high in Europe, reaching 119.8F. .
While one of the world's hottest locations,
California's Death Valley, reached a scorching 129.9F.