Abstract: Surface temperature is an important indicator that reflects the regional natural environment and climate changes. High-quality data are very valuable for the study of the temporal and spatial changes in regional surface temperature. In recent years, North America has witnessed relatively abnormal climate changes, thus the surface temperature in this region has great study significance. Based on the MODIS surface temperature data, this study reconstructed the remotely sensed surface temperature data set of North America from 2002 to 2018 and analyzed the spatial and temporal changes in surface temperature over the past 17 years. The reconstructed surface temperature data cover all land surfaces of North America and guarantee precision of about 1 ℃. The analysis results are as follows. North America had a fluctuating temperature increase at an average rate of 0.02 ℃/a in the past 17 years. A historical peak in surface temperature increase occurred in 2016, followed by a sharp drop in the following two years, which was closely related to El Nino. In North America, the temperature increase was greater in spring and autumn than in winter and summer. In recent years, northern Alaska and the Baja California peninsula have experienced significant warming. Vegetation and atmospheric water vapor significantly affect the change in surface temperature. Vegetation and atmospheric water vapor are positively correlated with surface temperature in the north of 40°N, while they are negatively correlated in the south of 40°N. The general changing trend of surface temperature in the next 1~2 years can be predicted to a certain degree of reliability according to the periodic fluctuation trend of the average surface temperature in North America and the influence of El Nino.