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It is now official, 2014 was the hottest year on record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA in separate analysis found that the temperatures globally in 2014 were the hottest since 1880. Of the 10 warmest years on record, 9 have been since 2000, with the sole exception 1998.
This is just another in a series of years that have been warm, said a spokesperson from NASA. While ranking individual years could be affected due to chaotic weather patterns, the trends over the long term are attributable to climate change that now are dominated by the human emissions of greenhouse gases.
In 2014, the average global land as well as ocean surfaces temperature was 1.24 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.69 Celsius, above the average for the 20th century.
This was recorded as the highest amongst the 135 years between 1880 and 2014, surpassing the records previously of 2005 as well as 2010.
Records temperatures were hit around the world from Australia to far eastern Russia, across much of Europe and the western U.S.
The increasing temperatures are from a trend over the long term that goes back many decades and in part is driven by burning of coal, gas and oil, which traps the heat and changes the climate.
Since 1880, the average temperature of the earth’s surface has warmed about 1.4 degrees F.
The majority of the warming has taken place during the last three decades.
The dire news of the temperature is expected to place more pressure on the leaders of the world to reach an agreement internationally to fight climate change when later in 2017 they meet in Paris.
The goal for any international agreement would be for keeping the global temperatures from rising over 2 degrees over what they were during preindustrial times.
However, for that to happen, the world must shift dramatically from a heavy reliance on the use of fossil fuels.
