Year 2014 Was Earth Hottest year on Record

The year 2014 stands as the world hottest year since 1880, despite relatively cool temperatures across parts of the world, two federal agencies responsible for monitoring global climate trends said Friday.

 Climate experts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, working independently, calculated that the globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880. By their reckoning, nine of the 10 warmest years now on record all occurred during the 21st century.
Their finding confirms an analysis by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which announced earlier this month that 2014 was the hottest year world-wide on record. The records used by Japan go back to 1891.