Scientists Say 2014 Is the Hottest Year on Record
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iStock/Thinkstock(SILVER SPRING, Md.) — It was hot last year — very hot. In fact, 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.
Global temperatures have been recorded since 1880 and since then, NASA’s Michael Freilich said, no year has been hotter than 2014. The average temperature across the Earth’s oceans and land surfaces was about 58 degrees last year, a degree and a quarter above the 20th century average.
“There’s a considerable amount of area where we see the record highest temperatures observed,” said the NOAA’s Tom Karl, adding that includes the western U.S., Australia, parts of interior South America Europe and northern Africa.
“For the 21st century, nine out of 10 years have been warmest on record,” Karl said.
One of the few cool spots last year was the eastern U.S.
The NOAA provides it’s climate summary to “government, business, academia and the public to support informed decision-making,” the agency said in a release.
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