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Environment

2020: Climate took a back seat to COVID

With the world preoccupied by COVID-19 pandemic concerns, environmental issues were overlooked this year. But despite the many setbacks and coronavirus disruption, some progress was made.

  • Desert locusts swarm over a tree in Kipsing, near Oldonyiro
    More

    January: Locusts devastate East Africa

    After years of drought followed by torrential rains, East Africa is devastated by the biggest swarm of locusts in decades. Billions of the ravenous insects devour crops in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, spreading to southern Africa, Yemen and India in later months. Climate scientists say heavy rains and warmer temperatures linked to climate change are to blame for "exceptional" breeding conditions.

  • Trees are burned black after a bushfire
    More

    February: 'Black summer' scorches Australia

    A long bushfire season comes to an end after more than six months. Thirty-three people and 3 billion animals are dead, hurt or displaced, and an area the size of South Korea has been devastated. Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejects a direct link between greenhouse gas emissions and the severity of the fires; Australia is one of the world's highest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide.

  • A stop sign and a plane approaching to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia
    More

    March: COVID clears the skies

    With more than half the global population under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global greenhouse gas emissions slow. Skies above industrial centers in China, Italy and elsewhere clear as airlines slash flights, factories shut down and city streets empty out. But as lockdowns ease and people find ways to live with the pandemic, experts warn emissions may rebound.

  • Luisa Neubauer of Fridays for Future sets up protest signs in front of the German parliament
    More

    April: Calls for a green pandemic recovery

    As researchers race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, world leaders struggle to deal with the economic fallout of the pandemic. Chancellor Angela Merkel announces that Germany plans to make climate-friendly investment a priority in its recovery plans and urges global decision-makers to do the same. Meanwhile, activists keep up the pressure with protests, both virtual and physically distanced.

  • A man, wearing protective mask, rides his bicycle in Bogota, Colombia
    More

    May: Cities boost urban mobility

    The first pandemic wave begins to ebb and people — some cooped up for weeks — begin to venture outdoors. To help maintain physical distancing and keep traffic jams and public transport crowds from getting out of control, many cities introduce temporary or permanent measures to improve urban mobility. Bogota, Colombia (above) adds more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) of emergency bike lanes.

  • A discarded face mask in Berlin
    More

    June: Germany takes on plastic waste

    The ongoing pandemic isn't just a health disaster. Use of disposable face masks, gloves and other plastic products has skyrocketed, contributing to a growing waste problem. In a related attempt to clean up the mess and move away from a "throw-away culture," Germany falls in line with the EU and decides to ban plastic cutlery, straws, food containers and other single-use products as of July 2021.

  • A view of the site of a diesel fuel spill
    More

    July: Environmental disaster in Siberia

    Early in the summer, Russia declares a state of emergency after some 21,000 tons of diesel fuel are leaked, contaminating local rivers and soil in Siberia. The disaster is followed by uncontrolled wildfires across the region, one of the world's coldest. Smoldering permafrost and burning brush release more than half a billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere the following months.

  • People selling from the market walk in the flooded street in the neighborhood of Pétion ville, Haiti
    More

    August: Extreme weather sweeps the world

    Back-to-back hurricanes in the Caribbean; raging wildfires in the Amazon rainforest; historic floods in Southeast Asia: The increasingly devastating effects of climate change make themselves known. Hurricane Laura, which caused intense flooding in the Dominican Republic and Haiti (above), claims dozens of lives there and in the US. Pakistan, meanwhile, sees its worst flooding since 1931.

  • The San Francisco Bay Bridge is seen along Harrison Street under an orange smoke-filled sky in San Francisco
    More

    September: Wildfires cast an eerie glow

    As China makes an unexpected announcement to become climate neutral by 2060, wildfires rage across the US west coast, casting an ominous orange glow over San Francisco and the Bay Area. The fires scorch the states of Oregon, Washington and California for months. Overall, fires in the US claimed an estimated 4,177,856 acres (1,690,718 hectares) of land in 2020, more than half the size of Belgium.

  • A Tasmanian Devil is released
    More

    October: Devil back in Australia

    Conservation groups reveal that the Tasmanian devil has made an appearance on the Australian mainland for the first time in 3,000 years. The "historic" release of the carnivorous marsupials into a sanctuary north of Sydney will give the endangered species the chance to rebuild a self-sustaining wild population. It's estimated that fewer than 25,000 devils still live in the wild.

  • LA residents celebrate after several news organizations called the presidential election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
    More

    November: Biden boosts US climate hopes

    The US officially leaves the Paris Agreement — a day after the decisive win of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the presidential election. Biden pledges to rejoin the international climate accord when he takes office in January and announces ambitious plans — and trillions in funding — to help wean the US energy sector off fossil fuels over the next 15 years and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

  • 1.5 Degrees banner seen during Walk For Future climate march in Warsaw
    More

    December: EU raises climate ambitions

    As the world marks five years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, the EU ups its green credentials. After months of tough negotiations, and a prior endorsement by the European Parliament, the 27 member states agree to a binding target to cut carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels — up from 40%. Campaigners welcome the move but say much more still needs to be done.


  • Desert locusts swarm over a tree in Kipsing, near Oldonyiro
    More

    January: Locusts devastate East Africa

    After years of drought followed by torrential rains, East Africa is devastated by the biggest swarm of locusts in decades. Billions of the ravenous insects devour crops in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, spreading to southern Africa, Yemen and India in later months. Climate scientists say heavy rains and warmer temperatures linked to climate change are to blame for "exceptional" breeding conditions.

  • Trees are burned black after a bushfire
    More

    February: 'Black summer' scorches Australia

    A long bushfire season comes to an end after more than six months. Thirty-three people and 3 billion animals are dead, hurt or displaced, and an area the size of South Korea has been devastated. Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejects a direct link between greenhouse gas emissions and the severity of the fires; Australia is one of the world's highest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide.

  • A stop sign and a plane approaching to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia
    More

    March: COVID clears the skies

    With more than half the global population under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global greenhouse gas emissions slow. Skies above industrial centers in China, Italy and elsewhere clear as airlines slash flights, factories shut down and city streets empty out. But as lockdowns ease and people find ways to live with the pandemic, experts warn emissions may rebound.

  • Luisa Neubauer of Fridays for Future sets up protest signs in front of the German parliament
    More

    April: Calls for a green pandemic recovery

    As researchers race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, world leaders struggle to deal with the economic fallout of the pandemic. Chancellor Angela Merkel announces that Germany plans to make climate-friendly investment a priority in its recovery plans and urges global decision-makers to do the same. Meanwhile, activists keep up the pressure with protests, both virtual and physically distanced.

  • A man, wearing protective mask, rides his bicycle in Bogota, Colombia
    More

    May: Cities boost urban mobility

    The first pandemic wave begins to ebb and people — some cooped up for weeks — begin to venture outdoors. To help maintain physical distancing and keep traffic jams and public transport crowds from getting out of control, many cities introduce temporary or permanent measures to improve urban mobility. Bogota, Colombia (above) adds more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) of emergency bike lanes.

  • A discarded face mask in Berlin
    More

    June: Germany takes on plastic waste

    The ongoing pandemic isn't just a health disaster. Use of disposable face masks, gloves and other plastic products has skyrocketed, contributing to a growing waste problem. In a related attempt to clean up the mess and move away from a "throw-away culture," Germany falls in line with the EU and decides to ban plastic cutlery, straws, food containers and other single-use products as of July 2021.

  • A view of the site of a diesel fuel spill
    More

    July: Environmental disaster in Siberia

    Early in the summer, Russia declares a state of emergency after some 21,000 tons of diesel fuel are leaked, contaminating local rivers and soil in Siberia. The disaster is followed by uncontrolled wildfires across the region, one of the world's coldest. Smoldering permafrost and burning brush release more than half a billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere the following months.

  • People selling from the market walk in the flooded street in the neighborhood of Pétion ville, Haiti
    More

    August: Extreme weather sweeps the world

    Back-to-back hurricanes in the Caribbean; raging wildfires in the Amazon rainforest; historic floods in Southeast Asia: The increasingly devastating effects of climate change make themselves known. Hurricane Laura, which caused intense flooding in the Dominican Republic and Haiti (above), claims dozens of lives there and in the US. Pakistan, meanwhile, sees its worst flooding since 1931.

  • The San Francisco Bay Bridge is seen along Harrison Street under an orange smoke-filled sky in San Francisco
    More

    September: Wildfires cast an eerie glow

    As China makes an unexpected announcement to become climate neutral by 2060, wildfires rage across the US west coast, casting an ominous orange glow over San Francisco and the Bay Area. The fires scorch the states of Oregon, Washington and California for months. Overall, fires in the US claimed an estimated 4,177,856 acres (1,690,718 hectares) of land in 2020, more than half the size of Belgium.

  • A Tasmanian Devil is released
    More

    October: Devil back in Australia

    Conservation groups reveal that the Tasmanian devil has made an appearance on the Australian mainland for the first time in 3,000 years. The "historic" release of the carnivorous marsupials into a sanctuary north of Sydney will give the endangered species the chance to rebuild a self-sustaining wild population. It's estimated that fewer than 25,000 devils still live in the wild.

  • LA residents celebrate after several news organizations called the presidential election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
    More

    November: Biden boosts US climate hopes

    The US officially leaves the Paris Agreement — a day after the decisive win of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the presidential election. Biden pledges to rejoin the international climate accord when he takes office in January and announces ambitious plans — and trillions in funding — to help wean the US energy sector off fossil fuels over the next 15 years and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

  • 1.5 Degrees banner seen during Walk For Future climate march in Warsaw
    More

    December: EU raises climate ambitions

    As the world marks five years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, the EU ups its green credentials. After months of tough negotiations, and a prior endorsement by the European Parliament, the 27 member states agree to a binding target to cut carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels — up from 40%. Campaigners welcome the move but say much more still needs to be done.


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