According to scientists at NOAA, the average global land and ocean surface temperature for November 2020 was 0.97 C above the 20th-century average.

With the Southern Hemisphere having its ninth warmest, the Northern Hemisphere saw its warmest November on record.

Sections of North America, northern Europe, northern Russia, Australia, central and southern South America, the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea were felt to be the most prominent temperature departures.

Exceptional warmth has caused the coverage of Arctic sea ice to melt to its second-lowest documented coverage in November, according to U.S. scientists. In Boulder, Colorado, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

As was the case for October, the average November air temperatures over much of the Arctic Ocean were well above average, especially over open water areas.

As part of the annual cycle of autumn and winter growth, the extent of sea ice increased through November.

But according to NSIDC statistics, the average extent of 8.99 million square kilometers in November was 1.71 million square kilometers below the average from 1981 to 2010 and just 330,000 square kilometers above the record low of November 2016.

On the Atlantic side, scientists even saw the sea ice pull back a huge amount. Ice-free conditions in the Barents Sea have hit either record or near-record latitudes of up to 87 degrees north.

Maritime Business World