CLEVELAND — According to NASA, 2021 was tied for the sixth warmest year on record for global temperatures.
The United States and many countries around the world tied or broke heat records last summer.
Last year was also a year of extremes around the world, from the first-ever rainfall on the Greenland icecap to wildfires and devastating tornadoes.
"And that's significant because these records go back to 1880. So we're talking about one hundred and forty years of data, and we came in at sixth warmest," NASA oceanographer Dr. Bridget Seegers said. "So there's tens of thousands of weather stations around the planet where they're taking measurements. There's also buoys out in the ocean, there's ships in the ocean. There's measurements going on in Antarctica at the research station. So there's a wide swath of data coming in where we're just measuring what's going on with temperature."
Scientists said understanding the temperatures changes will lead to better planning when it comes to planting crops, managing water resources and predicting the strength of storms.
"So that extra heat not only in the atmosphere but in the oceans allows for intense winds again, more moisture. So we're seeing bigger flooding events associated with these hurricanes. So all those are just tied to that little, you know, couple of degrees warmer is a lot of energy in the system," Seegers said.
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