Natural disasters have surged over the past two decades. And a new report from the United Nations suggests they'll increase in the future. Those disasters include droughts, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires and extreme temperatures. But heat waves and droughts will be the biggest problems in the coming years thanks to greenhouse gases. The U.N. is calling on governments to implement early warning systems and create strategies to reduce disaster risks.Â
Earth sweltered to a record hot September last month, with U.S. climate officials saying there's nearly a two-to-one chance that 2020 will end up as the globe's hottest year on record.
Boosted by human-caused climate change, global temperatures averaged 60.75 degrees last month, edging out 2015 and 2016 for the hottest September in 141 years of recordkeeping, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. That's 1.75 degrees above the 20th century average.
This record was driven by high heat in Europe, Northern Asia, Russia and much of the Southern Hemisphere, said NOAA climatologist Ahira Sanchez-Lugo. California and Oregon had their hottest Septembers on record.
In this Sept. 5, 2020, file photo, people crowd the beach in Huntington Beach, Calif., as the state sweltered under a heat wave.
Earth has had 44 straight Septembers where it has been warmer than the 20th century average and 429 straight months without a cooler than normal month, according to NOAA. The hottest seven Septembers on record have been the last seven.
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That means "that no millennial or even parts of Gen-X has lived through a cooler than normal September," said North Carolina state climatologist Kathie Dello, herself a millennial.
What's happening is a combination of global warming from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas and natural variability, Sanchez-Lugo said. But the biggest factor is the human-caused warming, she and Dello said.
The globe set this record despite a La Nina, which is a cooling of parts of the central Pacific that changes weather patterns and usually slightly lowers temperatures.
The first nine months of 2020 are the second warmest on record, a shade behind 2016 when there was a strong warming El Nino. But Sanchez-Lugo said her office's calculations show that there's a 64.7% chance that 2020 will pass 2016 in the last three months to take the title as the warmest year on record. And if it doesn't make it, she said it'll easily be in the top three, probably top two.
Photos: A scorcher in Death Valley
In August temperatures in Death Valley in California skyrocketed to a blistering 130 degrees, possibly the highest mercury reading on Earth since 1913.
Photos: Death Valley may have set new record for hottest on Earth
Michael Major rides his bike at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center thermometer Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. The thermometer is not official but is a popular photo spot. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Katie Moore holds a bag of ice on her head Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People take selfies at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center thermometer Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. The thermometer is not official but is a popular photo spot. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Matt Untz takes a selfie at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center thermometer Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. The thermometer is not official but is a popular photo spot. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Katie Moore cools off with a bag of ice on her head Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Steve Krofchik cools off with a bottle of ice water on his head Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A sign warns of extreme heat danger at Badwater Basin, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People walk across the salt flats at Badwater Basin, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
John Moore cools off with a bag of ice water on his head Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A person walks on a boardwalk at the salt flats at Badwater Basin, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the third-warmest ever measured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
