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Earth's global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record, according to an analysis by NASA.
美國國家航空航天局(NASA)的一項分析顯示，2020年地球表面平均溫度與2016年持平，是有記錄以來最熱的一年。
Continuing the planet's long-term warming trend, the year's globally averaged temperature was 1.84 degrees Fahrenheit (1.02 degrees Celsius) warmer than the baseline 1951-1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. 2020 edged out 2016 by a very small amount, within the margin of error of the analysis, making the years effectively tied for the warmest year on record.
位於紐約的美國宇航局戈達德太空研究所(GISS)科學家表示，延續地球的長期變暖的趨勢,今年的全球平均溫度比1951-1980年平均值的基線還要高1.84華氏度(1.02攝氏度)。在合理誤差範圍內，2020年已經略微超過2016年，幾乎都是歷史上最熱的年份。
"The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend," said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. "Whether one year is a record or not is not really that important -- the important things are long-term trends. With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken."
GISS負責人加文·施密特說:「過去七年是有記錄以來最熱的七年，具有持續的、急劇性的變暖趨勢。」「某是否創紀錄並不重要，重要的是長期趨勢。隨著這些趨勢的發展，以及人類活動對氣候影響的增加，我們不得不猜測，這些記錄將繼續被打破。」
Tracking global temperature trends provides a critical indicator of the impact of human activities -- specifically, greenhouse gas emissions -- on our planet. Earth's average temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century.
追蹤全球氣溫趨勢是人類活動——特別是溫室氣體排放——對地球影響的一個關鍵指標。自19世紀末以來，地球的平均溫度已經上升了超過2華氏度(1.2攝氏度)。
Rising temperatures are causing phenomena such as loss of sea ice and ice sheet mass, sea level rise, longer and more intense heat waves, and shifts in plant and animal habitats. Understanding such long-term climate trends is essential for the safety and quality of human life, allowing humans to adapt to the changing environment in ways such as planting different crops, managing our water resources and preparing for extreme weather events.
氣溫上升正在造成海冰和冰蓋的消失、海平面上升、更持久更強烈的熱浪以及動植物棲息地的變化等現象。了解這種長期氣候趨勢對人類生活的安全和質量至關重要，使人類能夠以不同方式適應不斷變化的環境，例如種植不同作物、管理水資源、為極端天氣事件做好準備等。
A separate, independent analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded that 2020 was the second-warmest year in their record, behind 2016. NOAA scientists use much of the same raw temperature data in their analysis, but have a different baseline period (1901-2000) and methodology. Unlike NASA, NOAA also does not infer temperatures in polar regions lacking observations, which accounts for much of the difference between NASA and NOAA records.
美國國家海洋和大氣管理局(NOAA)的一項獨立分析得出結論稱，2020年是他們記錄以來第二熱的一年，僅次於2016年。美國國家海洋和大氣管理局的科學家在他們的分析中使用了大部分相同的原始溫度數據，但有不同的基線時期(1901-2000年)和方法。與美國國家航空航天局不同，美國國家海洋和大氣管理局也不能在缺乏觀測的情況下推斷極地地區的溫度，這是NASA和NOAA記錄差異的主要原因。
Like all scientific data, these temperature findings contain a small amount of uncertainty -- in this case, mainly due to changes in weather station locations and temperature measurement methods over time. The GISS temperature analysis (GISTEMP) is accurate to within 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit with a 95 percent confidence level for the most recent period.
像所有的科學數據一樣，這些溫度發現包含少量的不確定性——在這種情況下，主要是由於氣象站的位置和溫度測量方法隨著時間的變化而變化。GISS的溫度分析(GISTEMP)精確到0.1華氏度以內，在最近一段時間內有95%的置信度。
While the long-term trend of warming continues, a variety of events and factors contribute to any particular year's average temperature. Two separate events changed the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface. The Australian bush fires during the first half of the year burned 46 million acres of land, releasing smoke and other particles more than 18 miles high in the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and likely cooling the atmosphere slightly. In contrast, global shutdowns related to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reduced particulate air pollution in many areas, allowing more sunlight to reach the surface and producing a small but potentially significant warming effect. These shutdowns also appear to have reduced the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions last year, but overall CO2 concentrations continued to increase, and since warming is related to cumulative emissions, the overall amount of avoided warming will be minimal.
在全球變暖的長期趨勢持續的同時，各種各樣的事件和因素對特定年份的平均氣溫都會產生影響。下面兩個不相關的事件共同改變了到達地球表面的日照量：今年上半年，澳大利亞的森林大火燒毀了4600萬英畝土地，在大氣中釋放出超過18英裡(約合18公裡)高的煙霧和其他顆粒，阻擋了陽光的同時可能也使大氣溫度略有下降；相比之下，與正在進行的新冠病毒(COVID-19)大流行相關的全球停擺減少了許多地區的空氣顆粒物汙染，讓更多的陽光照射到地表，產生了輕微但有潛著影響的變暖效應。這些停擺措施似乎也減少了去年的二氧化碳排放量，但二氧化碳的總體濃度繼續增加，而且由於變暖與累積排放量有關，也幾乎無法避免氣候繼續變暖。
The largest source of year-to-year variability in global temperatures typically comes from the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a naturally occurring cycle of heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. While the year has ended in a negative (cool) phase of ENSO, it started in a slightly positive (warm) phase, which marginally increased the average overall temperature. The cooling influence from the negative phase is expected to have a larger influence on 2021 than 2020.
全球氣溫年復一年變化的最大原因通常是由於厄爾尼諾-南振蕩(ENSO)現象，這是海洋和大氣之間自然發生的熱交換循環。雖然今年結束於ENSO的負(冷)相階段，但它開始於輕微正(暖)相的階段，使總的平均溫度略微增加。預計2021年負相的降溫影響將大於2020年。
"The previous record warm year, 2016, received a significant boost from a strong El Nino. The lack of a similar assist from El Nino this year is evidence that the background climate continues to warm due to greenhouse gases," Schmidt said.
施密特說:「強勁的厄爾尼諾現象極大地影響了此前創熱紀錄的2016年，但今年沒有類似的厄爾尼諾現象，這證明了由於溫室氣體的排放，氣候的在大環境中繼續變暖。」
The 2020 GISS values represent surface temperatures averaged over both the whole globe and the entire year. Local weather plays a role in regional temperature variations, so not every region on Earth experiences similar amounts of warming even in a record year. According to NOAA, parts of the continental United States experienced record high temperatures in 2020, while others did not.
2020年的GISS值代表了全球和全年的平均表面溫度。當地天氣在區域溫度變化中起著重要作用，所以即使在創紀錄的年份裡，並不是地球上的每個地區都經歷了類似的升溫幅度。NOAA稱，美國大陸的部分地區在2020年經歷了創紀錄的高溫，而其他地區則沒有。
In the long term, parts of the globe are also warming faster than others. Earth's warming trends are most pronounced in the Arctic, which the GISTEMP analysis shows is warming more than three times as fast as the rest of the globe over the past 30 years, according to Schmidt. The loss of Arctic sea ice -- whose annual minimum area is declining by about 13 percent per decade -- makes the region less reflective, meaning more sunlight is absorbed by the oceans and temperatures rise further still. This phenomenon, known as Arctic amplification, is driving further sea ice loss, ice sheet melt and sea level rise, more intense Arctic fire seasons, and permafrost melt.
從長遠來看，全球部分地區的變暖速度也比其他地區快。施密特說，地球變暖的趨勢在北極最為明顯，國際科學研究所的分析顯示，在過去30年裡，北極變暖的速度是全球其他地區的三倍多。北冰洋海冰的減少——每年最小面積以每十年約13%的速度減少——使得該地區的反射能力下降，這意味著更多的陽光被海洋吸收，溫度會進一步上升。這種被稱為「北極放大」(Arctic amplification)的現象正在進一步加劇海冰流失、冰蓋融化和海平面上升、北極火災季節加劇以及永久凍土融化。
NASA's analysis incorporates surface temperature measurements from more than 26,000 weather stations and thousands of ship- and buoy-based observations of sea surface temperatures. These raw measurements are analyzed using an algorithm that considers the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and urban heating effects that could skew the conclusions if not taken into account. The result of these calculations is an estimate of the global average temperature difference from a baseline period of 1951 to 1980.
NASA的分析結合了超過26000個氣象站的表面溫度測量數據以及數千艘船和浮標的海面溫度觀測數據。這些原始測量數據的算法分析考慮了全球各地不同的溫度站間距以及城市的加熱效應，否則可能會扭曲結論。這些計算的結果是對1951年至1980年基線期全球平均溫度差的估計。
NASA measures Earth's vital signs from land, air, and space with a fleet of satellites, as well as airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. The satellite surface temperature record from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aura satellite confirms the GISTEMP results of the past seven years being the warmest on record. Satellite measurements of air temperature, sea surface temperature, and sea levels, as well as other space-based observations, also reflect a warming, changing world. The agency develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. NASA shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.
NASA利用一系列衛星，以及機載和地面觀測活動，從陸地、空中和太空測量地球的生命體徵。美國國家航空航天局(NASA) Aura衛星上的大氣紅外探測器(AIRS)記錄的衛星表面溫度證實了GISTEMP的結果，過去七年是有記錄以來最熱的七年。衛星對氣溫、海平面溫度和海平面的測量，以及其他基於空間的觀測，也反映了一個正在變暖、不斷變化的世界。該機構通過長期數據記錄和計算機分析工具開發了新的方法來觀察和研究地球相互關聯的自然系統，以便更好地了解我們的星球正在如何變化。NASA與全球社區分享這一獨特的知識成果，並與美國和世界各地的機構合作，幫助理解和保護我們的地球。
NASA's full surface temperature data set -- and the complete methodology used to make the temperature calculation -- are available at:
NASA的完整地表溫度數據集以及用於計算溫度的完整方法可從以下網站獲得:
https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp
GISS is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University's Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.
GISS是美國宇航局的一個實驗室，由位於馬裡蘭州格林貝爾特的戈達德太空飛行中心的地球科學部管理。該實驗室隸屬於紐約哥倫比亞大學地球研究所和工程與應用科學學院。
Story Source:
Materials provided by NASA. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
degrees Fahrenheit 華氏度
degrees Celsius 攝氏度
Indicator 指標
Baseline 基線，底線
cumulative 累積的，漸增的
minimal 最低的，最小限度的
El Nino 厄爾尼諾現象