By contrast, the 120 months from March 1976 to February 1985 was the coldest ten year period on record in the US, and averaged  52.59 degrees.

From the graph below, it becomes abundantly clear why, Hayhoe, Hansen, Dessler at al normally cherry pick the 1970s as their start date for climate data, and why Hansen has worked so hard to beat down the 1930s.