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STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2021

  • Jessica Blunden
  • , Tim Boyer
  • , Robert J.H. Dunn
  • , Jessicca Allen
  • , Gregory Hammer
  • , S. Elizabeth Love-Brotak
  • , Deborah J. Misch
  • , Laura Ohlmann
  • , Deborah B. Riddle
  • , Sara W. Veasey
  • , Melanie Ades
  • , Robert Adler
  • , Freya Aldred
  • , R. P. Allan
  • , John Anderson
  • , Orlane Anneville
  • , Yasuyuki Aono
  • , Anthony Argüez
  • , Carlo Arosio
  • , John A. Augustine
  • Cesar Azorin-Molina, Jonathan Barichivich, Aman Basu, Hylke E. Beck, Nicolas Bellouin, Angela Benedetti, Kevin Blagrave, Stephen Blenkinsop, Olivier Bock, Xavier Bodin, Michael G. Bosilovich, Olivier Boucher, Gerald Bove, Dennis Buechler, Stefan A. Buehler, Laura Carrea, Kai Lan Chang, Hanne H. Christiansen, John R. Christy, Eui Seok Chung, Laura M. Ciasto, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Owen R. Cooper, Richard C. Cornes, Curt Covey, Thomas Cropper, Molly Crotwell, Diego Cusicanqui, Sean M. Davis, Richard A.M. de Jeu, Doug Degenstein, Reynald Delaloye, Markus G. Donat, Wouter A. Dorigo, Imke Durre, Geoff S. Dutton, Gregory Duveiller, James W. Elkins, Thomas W. Estilow, David Fereday, Johannes Flemming, Michael J. Foster, Stacey M. Frith, Lucien Froidevaux, Martin Füllekrug, Judith Garforth, Jay Garg, Matthew Gentry, Nadine Gobron, Steven Goodman, Qiqi Gou, Nikolay Granin, Mauro Guglielmin, Sebastian Hahn, Leopold Haimberger, Brad D. Hall, Ian Harris, Debbie L. Hemming, Martin Hirschi, Shu Pen Ho, Robert Holzworth, Filip Hrbáček, Daan Hubert, Petra Hulsman, Dale F. Hurst, Antje Inness, Ketil Isaksen, Viju O. John, Philip D. Jones, Robert Junod, Andreas Kääb, Johannes W. Kaiser, Viktor Kaufmann, Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer, Elizabeth C. Kent, Richard Kidd, Hyungiun Kim, Zak Kipling, Akash Koppa, Jan Henning L'Abée-Lund, Xin Lan, Kathleen O. Lantz, David Lavers, Norman G. Loeb, Diego Loyola, Remi Madelon, Hilmar J. Malmquist, Wlodzimierz Marszelewski, Michael Mayer, Matthew F. McCabe, Tim R. McVicar, Carl A. Mears, Annette Menzel, Christopher J. Merchant, John B. Miller, Diego G. Miralles, Stephen A. Montzka, Colin Morice, Leander Mösinger, Jens Mühle, Julien P. Nicolas, Jeannette Noetzli, Tiina Nõges, Ben Noll, John O'Keefe, Tim J. Osborn, Taejin Park, Cecile Pellet, Maury S. Pelto, Sarah E. Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Coda Phillips, Stephen Po-Chedley, Lorenzo Polvani, Wolfgang Preimesberger, Colin Price, Merja Pulkkanen, Dominik G. Rains, William J. Randel, Samuel Rémy, Lucrezia Ricciardulli, Andrew D. Richardson, David A. Robinson, Matthew Rodell, Nemesio J. Rodríguez-Fernández, Karen H. Rosenlof, Chris Roth, Alexei Rozanov, This Rutishäuser, Parnchai Sawaengphokhai, Verena Schenzinger, Robert W. Schlegel, Udo Schneider, Sapna Sharma, Lei Shi, Adrian J. Simmons, Carolina Siso, Brian J. Soden, Viktoria Sofieva, Tim H. Sparks, Stackhouse, Ryan Stauffer, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Andrea K. Steiner, Kenton Stewart, Pietro Stradiotti, Dimitri A. Streletskiy, Hagen Telg, Stephen J. Thackeray, Emmanuel Thibert, Michael Todt, Daisuke Tokuda, Kleareti Tourpali, Mari R. Tye, Ronald van Der A, Robin van der Schalie, Gerard van der Schrier, Mendy van der Vliet, Guido R. van der Werf, Arnold van Vliet, Jean Paul Vernier, Isaac J. Vimont, Katrina Virts, Sebastiàn Vivero, Holger Vömel, Russell S. Vose, Ray H.J. Wang, Markus Weber, David Wiese, Jeanette D. Wild, Kate M. Willett, Earle Williams, Takmeng Wong, R. I. Woolway, Xungang Yin, Ye Yuan, Lin Zhao, Xinjia Zhou, Jerry R. Ziemke, Markus Ziese, Ruxandra M. Zotta, Francis Bringas, Ivona Cetinić, Don P. Chambers, Lijing Cheng, Shenfu Dong, Richard A. Feely, Baylor Fox-Kemper, Eleanor Frajka-Williams, Bryan A. Franz, Yao Fu, Meng Gao, John Gilson, Gustavo Goni, Benjamin D. Hamlington, Helene T. Hewitt, William R. Hobbs, Zeng Zhen Hu, Boyin Huang, Svetlana Jevrejeva, William E. Johns, Gregory C. Johnson, Sato Katsunari, John J. Kennedy, Marion Kersalé, Rachel E. Killick, Eric Leuliette, Ricardo Locarnini, M. Susan Lozier, Rick Lumpkin, John M. Lyman, Mark A. Merrifield, Alexey Mishonov, Gary T. Mitchum, Ben I. Moat, R. Steven Nerem, Dirk Notz, Renellys C. Perez, Sarah G. Purkey, Darren Rayner, James Reagan, Claudia Schmid, David A. Siegel, David A. Smeed, Paul W. Stackhouse, William Sweet, Philip R. Thompson, Denis L. Volkov, Rik Wanninkhof, Robert A. Weller, Caihong Wen, Toby K. Westberry, Matthew J. Widlansky, Josh K. Willis, Lisan Yu, Huai Min Zhang, Adam Allgood, Emily J. Becker, Eric S. Blake, Francis G. Bringas, Suzana J. Camargo, Lin Chen, Caio A.S. Coelho, Howard J. Diamond, Nicolas Fauchereau, Stanley B. Goldenberg, Michael S. Halpert, Qiong He, Philip J. Klotzbach, John A. Knaff, Arun Kumar, Chris W. Landsea, Michelle L'Heureux, I. I. Lin, Andrew M. Lorrey, Jing Jia Luo, Andrew D. Magee, Richard J. Pasch, Alexandre B. Pezza, Matthew Rosencrans, Carl J. Schreck, Blair C. Trewin, Ryan E. Truchelut, Bin Wang, Hui Wang, Kimberly M. Wood, John Mark Woolley, L. M. Andreassen, E. Baker, Thomas J. Ballinger, Logan T. Berner, Germar H. Bernhard, Uma S. Bhatt, Jarle W. Bjerke, L. N. Boisvert, Jason E. Box, B. Brettschneider, D. Burgess, Amy H. Butler, John Cappelen, B. Decharme, C. Derksen, Dmitry Divine, D. S. Drozdov, Matthew L. Druckenmiller, A. Elias Chereque, Howard E. Epstein, Sinead L. Farrell, Robert S. Fausto, Xavier Fettweis, Vitali E. Fioletov, Bruce C. Forbes, Gerald V. Frost, Sebastian Gerland, Scott J. Goetz, Jens Uwe Grooß, Christian Haas, Edward Hanna, Inger Hanssen-Bauer, M. M.P.D. Heijmans, Stefan Hendricks, Iolanda Ialongo, K. Isaksen, C. D. Jensen, Bjørn Johnsen, L. Kaleschke, A. L. Kholodov, Seong Joong Kim, J. Kohler, Niels J. Korsgaard, Zachary Labe, Kaisa Lakkala, Mark J. Lara, Simon H. Lee, Bryant Loomis, B. Luks, K. Luojus, Matthew J. Macander, R. Magnússon, G. V. Malkova, Kenneth D. Mankoff, Gloria L. Manney, Walter N. Meier, Twila A. Moon, Thomas Mote, Lawrence Mudryk, Rolf Muller, K. E. Nyland, James E. Overland, F. Pálsson, T. Park, C. L. Parker, Don Perovich, Alek Petty, Gareth K. Phoenix, J. E. Pinzon, Robert Ricker, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, S. P. Serbin, G. Sheffield, Nikolai I. Shiklomanov, Sharon L. Smith, K. M. Stafford, A. Steer, Tove Svendby, Marco Tedesco, Richard L. Thoman, L. Thomson, T. Thorsteinsson, X. Tian-Kunze, Mary Louise Timmermans, Hans Tømmervik, Mark Tschudi, C. J. Tucker, Donald A. Walker, John E. Walsh, Muyin Wang, Melinda Webster, A. Wehrlé, Øyvind Winton, G. Wolken, K. Wood, B. Wouters, D. Yang, Susheel Adusumilli, Rebecca Baiman, Alison F. Banwell, Sandra Barreira, Rebecca L. Beadling, Kyle R. Clem, Steve Colwell, Lawrence Coy, Rajashree T. Datta, Jos De Laat, Devon Dunmire, Ryan L. Fogt, Natalie M. Freeman, Helen Amanda Fricker, Alex S. Gardner, Bryan Johnson, Linda M. Keller, Natalya A. Kramarova, Matthew A. Lazzara, Jan L. Lieser, Michael MacFerrin, Graeme A. MacGilchrist, Michelle L. MacLennan, Robert A. Massom, Matthew R. Mazloff, Thomas L. Mote, Eric R. Nash, Paul A. Newman, Taylor Norton, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Michael Pitts, Marilyn N. Raphael, Phillip Reid, Michelle L. Santee, Ted A. Scambos, Jia Rui Shi, Sharon Stammerjohn, Susan E. Strahan, Andrew F. Thompson, Jonathan D. Wille, Earle Wilson, A. Abida, W. Agyakwah, Laura S. Aldeco, Eric J. Alfaro, Teddy Allen, Lincoln M. Alves, Jorge A. Amador, B. Andrade, P. Asgarzadeh, Grinia Avalos, Julian Baez, M. Yu Bardin, E. Bekele, Renato Bertalanic, Peter Bissolli, Oliver Bochníček, Brandon Bukunt, Blanca Calderón, Jayaka D. Campbell, Elise Chandler, Candice S. Charlton, Vincent Y.S. Cheng, Leonardo A. Clarke, Kris Correa, Catalina R. Cortés Salazar, Felipe Costa, Lenka Crhová, Ana Paula Cunha, Mesut Demircan, K. R. Dhurmea, Diana A. Domínguez, Dashkhuu Dulamsuren, M. ElKharrim, Jhan Carlo Espinoza, A. Fazl-Kezemi, Nava Fedaeff, Chris Fenimore, Steven Fuhrman, Catherine Ganter, Karin Gleason, Charles P. Guard, Samson Hagos, Mizuki Hanafusa, Richard R. Heim, John Kennedy, Sverker Hellström, Hugo G. Hidalgo, I. A. Ijampy, Gyo Soon Im, G. Jumaux, K. Kabidi, Kenneth Kerr, Yelena Khalatyan, Valentina Khan, Mai Van Khiem, Tobias Koch, Gerbrand Koren, Natalia N. Korshunova, A. C. Kruger, Mónika Lakatos, Jostein Mamen, Hoang Phuc Lam, Mark A. Lander, Waldo Lavado-Casimiro, Tsz Cheung Lee, Kinson H.Y. Leung, Xuefeng Liu, Rui Lu, José A. Marengo, Mohammadi Marjan, Ana E. Martínez, Charlotte McBride, Ademe Mekonnen, Mirek Mietus, Noelia Misevicius, Aurel Moise, Jorge Molina-Carpio, Natali Mora, Awatif E. Mostafa, O. Ndiaye, Juan J. Nieto, Kristin Olafsdottir, Reynaldo Pascual Ramírez, David Phillips, Amos Porat, Esteban Rodriguez Guisado, Madhavan Rajeevan, Andrea M. Ramos, Cristina Recalde Coronel, Alejandra J. Reyes Kohler, M. Robjhon, Josyane Ronchail, Roberto Salinas, Ahira Sánchez-Lugo, Hirotaka Sato, Hitoshi Sato, Amal Sayouri, Serhat Sensoy, Amsari Mudzakir Setiawan, F. Sima, Adam Smith, Matthieu Sorel, Sandra Spillane, Jacqueline M. Spence, O. P. Sreejith, A. K. Srivastava, Tannecia S. Stephenson, Kiyotoshi Takahashi, Michael A. Taylor, Wassila M. Thiaw, Skie Tobin, Lidia Trescilo, Adrian R. Trotman, Cedric J. Van Meerbeeck, A. Vazifeh, Shunya Wakamatsu, M. F. Zaheer, F. Zeng, Peiqun Zhang, Zhiwei Zhu
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Met Office
  • North Carolina State University
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  • European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
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  • University of Reading
  • Hampton University
  • Université Savoie Mont Blanc
  • Osaka Metropolitan University
  • University of Bremen
  • Spanish National Research Council
  • Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
  • University of East Anglia
  • York University Toronto
  • European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute
  • GloH2O
  • Newcastle University
  • Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Sorbonne Université
  • University of the Virgin Islands
  • University of Alabama in Huntsville
  • University of Hamburg
  • University of Colorado Boulder
  • University Centre in Svalbard
  • IBS Center for Climate Physics
  • German Aerospace Center
  • National Oceanography Centre
  • Lawrence Livermore Natl. Laboratory
  • Université Grenoble Alpes
  • Planet
  • University of Saskatchewan
  • University of Fribourg
  • Barcelona Supercomputing Centre
  • ICREA
  • Vienna University of Technology
  • Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
  • Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
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  • Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
  • Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate
  • NASA Langley Research Center
  • Université Toulouse 3
  • Icelandic Institute of Natural History
  • Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
  • King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
  • CSIRO
  • ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes
  • Remote Sensing Systems
  • Technical University of Munich
  • University of California at San Diego
  • Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
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  • Estonian University of Life Sciences
  • NIWA
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  • HYGEOS
  • Northern Arizona University
  • Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT)
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  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
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  • Morgan State University
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  • Japan Meteorological Agency
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Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

In 2021, both social and economic activities began to return towards the levels preceding the COVID-19 pandemic for some parts of the globe, with others still experiencing restrictions. Meanwhile, the climate has continued to respond to the ongoing increase in greenhouse gases and resulting warming. La Nia, a phenomenon which tends to depress global temperatures while changing rainfall patterns in many regions, prevailed for all but two months of the year. Despite this, 2021 was one of the six-warmest years on record as measured by global mean surface temperature with an anomaly of between +0.21 and +0.28C above the 19912020 climatology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S11-S142
JournalBulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Volume103
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2022

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