NIWA
Annual Climate Summary 2021
11 January 2022
It's official, 2021 was Aotearoa New Zealand’s warmest year on record. The year 2021 finished with an average temperature of 13.56°C in New Zealand, this was 0.95°C above average (relative to the 1981-2010 baseline) and surpassed 2016 to become the country's new warmest year on record. Read more at Annual Climate Summary 2021.
Follow us
Popular services and publications
Annual Climate Summary
2021 was New Zealand's warmest year on record
Features
Surveying scallops populations with artificial intelligence
17 August 2021
Together with the University of Canterbury and Fisheries NZ, NIWA has been working to develop a catch-free, non-invasive method of surveying scallop populations. Find out how...
Will it be a fintastic fishing year?
30 December 2021
A marine heatwave is happening all around New Zealand. Warmer waters are more pleasant for swimming in and can create wilder weather. But what do they mean for fishing? Let’s dive into the science behind getting a good catch.
Studying a fragile and alien icy world
23 December 2021
NIWA scientists are doing what no others have done before. In a mysterious world just below the Antarctic ice, a delicate web of ice crystals forms a habitat that’s unique and largely unknown. Until now…
Rewilding green-lipped mussels
8 December 2021
You can’t take a trip to the Marlborough Sounds and fail to notice the patchwork of buoys bobbing in the blue waters. Suspended under these buoys are kilometres of lines, each in turn with their own much smaller lines trailing beneath. These lines, less than a millimetre in diameter, are the anchoring byssal threads (or beards) of green-lipped mussels.