Feeling a Cooldown? 2021 Was the Planet’s 6th Warmest on Record
January 14, 2022 Weather around the world has been coming in hot — literally. Two consecutive years (2019 and 2020) ranked among the top three warmest on record. So, how did 2021 fare? According to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Earth was a slightly cooler in 2021. But not by too much.
Official stats compiled show that 2021 ranks sixth on the list of warmest years on record, which dates back to 1880.
Earth’s average land and ocean surface temperature in 2021 was 1.51°F above the 20th-century average. It also marked the 45th consecutive year with global temperatures rising above the 20th-century average. The years 2013-2021 all rank among the 10 warmest years.
The Northern Hemisphere’s land and ocean surface temperature also was the sixth highest on record, at 1.96°F above average. For Northern Hemisphere land areas only, the temperature was third warmest on record, behind 2016 (second warmest) and 2020 (the warmest) respectively.
Other scientific organizations who conduct similar climate analyses had findings that trended closely with NOAA’s. NASA scientists also determined that 2021 was the sixth-warmest year on record, tied with 2018. Scientists from Europe’s Copernicus, however, ranked 2021 as the globe’s fifth most temperate.
While 2021 might not have been quite as warm as other years, the hottest month ever on record was logged this past July.
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