SCOTT FALLON / NORTHJERSEY.COM – New Jersey recorded its second-hottest year on record in 2020 — continuing a trend of rising temperatures in the Garden State and globally as more heat continues to be trapped in the planet’s atmosphere by greenhouse gases, exacerbating climate change.

The announcement by Rutgers University and the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist doesn’t come as a huge surprise, considering summer 2020 was already the warmest on record in the state.

And Earth may have had its hottest year on record in 2020, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration …