Environment
2014 Was Officially the Hottest Year on Record
Twenty of the warmest years in known history have now occurred in the last 20 years.
The official tallies are in and—huzzah!—2014 set a record for being the hottest year in known history. What was speculated a short while ago by Japan is now confirmed by both NOAA and NASA: most of the globe sweltered with abnormally high temperatures last year (though the eastern U.S. had a run on cold). Things are now roughly 1.4 degrees hotter than they were a century ago, and most of the warm-up has come since 1980.
This news means the 10 most torrid years on record have arrived since 2002, save for 1998, which was also really hot. Meanwhile, 20 of the record-warmest years have occurred in the (wait for it) last 20 years. Here's NASA on what's causing the atmospheric boil and what to expect in coming years: