This winter was the Earth's warmest on record

Many Americans experienced severe cold this winter, but the Northern Hemisphere as a whole actually saw an increase in its average temperature.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Wednesday that this winter was the Earth's warmest on record. The NOAA defines winter as the months of December, January, and February in the Northern Hemisphere.

While the Northern Hemisphere had its warmest winter, the Southern Hemisphere had its fourth-warmest summer, USA Today reports. The temperatures for December, January, and February beat the winter record set in 2007 by 0.05 degrees.

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USA Today notes that the western U.S., central Siberia, and eastern Mongolia saw record high temperatures from December to January. 2015 could become the warmest year on record, too — February was the second-warmest February on record.