The warmest year on record: 2014

The newest analysis by James Hansen and coauthors show confirm our worries: our planet continues to heat up.

Global surface temperature in 2014 was +0.68°C (~1.2°F) warmer than the 1951-1980 base period in the GISTEMP analysis, making 2014 the warmest year in the period of instrumental data, but the difference from the prior warmest year (2010), less than 0.02°C, is within uncertainty of measurement.  The eastern two-thirds of the contiguous United States was persistently cool in 2014, cooler than the 1951-1980 average in all seasons.  Record warmth at a time of only marginal El Niño conditions confirms that there is no “hiatus” of global warming, only a moderate slowdown since 2000.  Global temperature in 2015 may further alter perceptions.  We discuss the prospects for the 2015 global temperature in view of the seeming waning of the current weak El Niño.

For further information, please see the original article at the Columbia Unversity Webside.