During the months that Joe Biden and Donald Trump were campaigning against each other, the following happened:

1.Vast sections of the American West caught on fire. More than five million acres burned, and the air in California, Oregon and Washington was sometimes more harmful to breathe than in the pollution-clogged cities of India.

2. In the Atlantic Ocean, there have been more big storms recorded than in any previous year — 29 thus far, so many that the group that names storms exhausted the English alphabet and had to switch to Greek.

3. Worldwide, the month of September was the hottest ever measured, and 2020 may end up being the hottest year. The Arctic is warming even faster than the rest of the planet, and glaciers are losing more ice each year than can be found in all of the European Alps.

4. Sea levels now seem to be rising at an accelerating pace.

5. In Siberia, melting ice appears to be releasing gases that cause gigantic explosions, leaving craters that are up 100 feet deep.

In sum: Climate change is a fantastically complex phenomenon. It does not proceed at a steady pace, and scientists are often unsure precisely what its effects are and which weather patterns are random. But the sum total of the evidence is clear — and terrifying.

The earth is continuing to warm, breaking new records as it does, and the destructive effects of climate change are picking up speed. Future damage will almost certainly be worse, maybe much worse.

Can Joe Biden make a difference and help the U.S. avoid the worst effects of climate change? Here's what he will face, and what he'll try to do: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/opinion/joe-biden-climate-change.html