GLOBAL CLIMATE CONDITIONS IN 2021

Abstract

The year 2021 was the seventh warmest year on record, in spite of a La Niña event, and was warmer than previous years influenced by La Niña. The average global temperature in 2021 was about 1.1°C above the pre-industrial level, and it was the seventh consecutive year where the global temperature has been over 1.1°C above the pre-industrial level. In 2021 record-high temperatures over land surfaces were measured across parts of northern Africa, southern Asia, and southern South America; the upper ocean heat was at a record high. The Antarctic ozone hole was intense and persistent. We will remember 2021 for the record-shattering temperature of nearly 50°C in Canada, comparable to the values reported in the hot Saharan Desert of Algeria; exceptional rainfall; and deadly flooding in Asia and Europe, as well as drought in parts of Africa and South America. 2021 had above-average global tropical cyclone activity with a total of 94 named storms, but the lowest number of global hurricane-strength tropical cyclones on record, only 37. Climate change impacts and weather-related hazards had life-changing and devastating impacts on communities on every single continent.