Permafrost is an essential component of the cryosphere and a key indicator of climate change. Due to global warming and precipitation changes permafrost is undergoing degradation resulting in thawing, subsidence, slope instability, greenhouse gas emission, change in local hydrology system, and putting infrastructure and mountain communities at critical risk. Permafrost covers a quarter of the entire land surface of the northern hemisphere and also extends up to a remarkable area of the southern hemisphere. However, there is a lack of long-term systematic comparisons of permafrost characteristics between regions of both hemispheres and their sensitivity to climatic disturbances. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the land surface temperature (LST), mean annual air temperature (MAAT) and solar radiation, for 8 years from 2013 to 2021 in the selected regions of the northern and southern hemispheres where permafrost exists using Google Earth Engine (GEE). We found that the variation of LST and MAAT is higher in northern hemisphere in comparison with southern hemisphere. The permafrost extents has shrunk in both the regions and the permafrost degradation rate is higher in northern hemispheric regions. This study also analysed the possible relationship between local topography, geographic location and permafrost degradation. The findings of this study can help to understand the permafrost degradation and climatic variation in a regional scale.

Permafrost; Google Earth Engine; Hemispherical Studies; LST; MAAT; Solar Radiation.