Climate change won’t lead to NorCal heat records every year. But rising global temps could increase other extremes

Data released by NASA and NOAA show that, globally, 2021 was the sixth hottest year on record for Earth's atmosphere. That means that nine of the planet's 10 hottest years have come in the past decade. Only 2012 is not in that top 10 list. The most dramatic warming was measured in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, which have been warming up to four times faster than the rest of the planet. Areas of East Asia, western Africa as well as regions over the North Pacific were also notably warmer than average. Temperatures in Northern California were also warmer than normal last year, but not exceptionally so. Still, there were plenty of extremes in our region's weather.