This is an article of notable issues relating to the terrestrial environment of Earth in 2020. They relate to environmental events such as natural disasters, environmental sciences such as ecology and geoscience with a known relevance to contemporary influence of humanity on Earth, environmental law, conservation, environmentalism with major worldwide impact and environmental issues.
Events Date / period Type of event Event Topics Image Report The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), which is published every demi-decade, for 2020 is published. (February 24–29) Policy The UN Convention on Biological Diversity drafted proposal to prevent reverse biodiversity decline that risks the survival of humanity:Almost a third of the world's oceans and land should be protected by the end of the decade.UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction The Guardian 15 Jan 2020 Analysis JPMorgan Chase report on the economic risks of human-caused global heating warns clients that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity and that the planet. Guardian 21 Feb 2020 Analysis The UN issues a warning about the numbers of desert locusts in East Africa. The five: things you need to know about locusts Guardian 15 Feb 2020 International day World Oceans Day: its theme was 'Innovation for a sustainable ocean'. Analysis The United Nations warns that the floating oil storage and offloading vessel that is moored in the Red Sea north of the Yemeni city of Al Hudaydah, FSO Safer could spill four times as much oil as the Exxon Valdez oil spill. International day The Earth Overshoot Day takes place more than three weeks later than 2019, due to coronavirus induced lockdowns around the world. The president of the Global Footprint Network claims that the COVID-19 pandemic by itself is one of the manifestations of "ecological imbalance". Report The European Environment Agency reports that environmental factors such as air pollution and heatwaves contributed to around 13% of all human deaths in EU countries in 2012 (~630,000). Report The WMO publishes a high-level brief compilation of the latest climate science information from the WMO, GCP, UNESCO-IOC, IPCC, UNEP and the Met Office. The report, which is not published under an open license, is subdivided into 7 chapters which each have a list of key messages. Report According to the 2020 Living Planet Index report, vertebrate populations have declined by 68% since 1970 by 2016. Observation Scientists report finding a coral reef measuring 500 m in height, located at the northern tip of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the first discovery of its kind in 120 years. Activity / Development Scientists begin collecting living fragments, tissue and DNA samples of corals from the Great Barrier Reef for a biobank for potential future restoration and rehabilitation activities. Activity / Development Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is launched into orbit, to monitor sea levels in higher detail than ever before. The satellite's resolution will allow measuring of water depths closer to the shore, which has long been an area of uncertainty.
Environmental policies approved
From 1 January 2020, ships will only be permitted to use fuel oil with a very low sulfur content. The International Maritime Organization estimates that the new limit of 0.5% sulfur content, down from 3.5%, will cut sulfur dioxide emissions from ships by about 8.5 million tonnes.Shipping fuel regulation to cut sulfur levels comes into force. New rules introduced by International Maritime Organization expected to reduce certain forms of air pollution The Guardian 1 Jan 2020 The Pacific nation of Palau bans sun cream that is harmful to corals and sea life in January 2020.Palau is first country to ban 'reef toxic' sun cream The Guardian 1 Jan 2020
Environmental disasters
Date / period Type of event Event Topics Image Wildfires The Australian wildfires in January 2020 were intense. Thousands of people have evacuated from north-east Victoria, East Gippsland, and the south coast of NSW.Tens of thousands flee in mass bushfire evacuation – as it happened before Guardian 3 Jan 2020 Australia's bushfire crisis is expected to contribute up to 2% of what scientists forecast will be one of the largest annual increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide on record. In the forecast by the British Met Office climate gas concentration is projected to peak at more than 417 parts per million in May 2020.Australian bushfires to contribute to huge annual increase in global carbon dioxide The Guardian 24 Jan 2020 Storm Storm Gloria in Spain: Seawater flooded ca 30sq km of rice plants, kills people, blocks roads, and causes power cuts and damaged beaches around Barcelona, Valencia and on the Balearic Islands.Storm Gloria floods major river delta in eastern Spain BBC 22 Jan 2020 Earthquake 2020 Elazığ earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 kills at least 20 people in eastern Turkey.Multiple fatalities after earthquake hits eastern Turkey The Guardian 25 Jan 2020 Wildfires / deforestation Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil more than doubled in January 2020 compared with the previous year,Amazon deforestation for January hits record Feb 8, 2020 the Amazon rainforest biodiversity is huge and is the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia.Turner, I.M. (2001). The ecology of trees in the tropical rain forest. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest may influence the climate worldwide. Storm European Storm Ciara — known as Sabine in Germany and Switzerland and Elsa in Norway — stops aviation and train traffic in many countries because of in maximum over 30 m/s wind speeds.In pictures: Storm Ciara batters north-western Europe BBC 10 February 2020 Storm Ciara helps plane beat transatlantic flight record from New York to London in 4 hours and 56 minutes.Storm Ciara helps plane beat transatlantic flight record BBC 9 February 2020 Mass coral bleaching National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns of the massive coral bleaching in Great Barrier Reef. After mid February model forecasts suggested that "2020 is likely to be the most extensive coral bleaching event that we have seen so far" on the reef. In 2016 and 2017, back-to-back bleaching killed about half the reef's corals.Great Barrier Reef could face 'most extensive coral bleaching ever', scientists say Guardian 21 Feb 2020 Storm / flooding Hundreds of properties are flooded in the UK after the Storm Dennis In February 2020. Storm hit large areas including the United Kingdom, The United States, Canada & Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands.torm Dennis: flood-hit communities brace for more heavy rain Rivers Severn, Teme and Wye will remain high as rain builds up again from Wednesday morning Guardian 21 Feb 2020 Oil spill The Norilsk oil spill begins after a fuel storage tank at Norilsk-Taimyr Energy's Thermal Power Plant No. 3 (owned by Nornickel) failed, flooding local rivers with up to 17,500 tonnes of diesel oil. President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in early June. The incident has been described as the second-largest oil spill in modern Russian history, after the 1994 Komi pipeline spill. , Oil spill The MV Wakashio oil spill begins offshore of Pointe d'Esny, south of Mauritius, after the Japanese bulk carrier Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July 2020 at around 16:00 UTC. The ship began to leak fuel oil in the following weeks, and broke apart in mid August. Although much of the oil on board Wakashio was pumped out before she broke in half, an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the ocean in what was called by some scientists the worst environmental disaster ever in Mauritius. Pollution events
Environmental sciences