February 2021 was the planet’s coolest February in seven years due to La Niña in the tropical Pacific Ocean and unusually brisk temperatures that enveloped much of North America and northern Asia. But vast temperature contrasts during February — and during the three-month season — were at play in other parts of the world.
In fact, the Northern Hemisphere as a whole experienced its 8th-warmest winter (December through February) in 142 years, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Here’s more from NOAA’s latest monthly global climate report:
Climate by the numbers - February 2021
The average global land and ocean surface temperature last month was 1.17 degrees F (0.65 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average making it the 16th-warmest February on record for the globe — but still the coolest since 2014.
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Image via NOAA