Now that 2014 has officially come and gone, climate scientists that have been tracking global temperatures can now definitely say it was the hottest year on record.
According to the Guardian, the data comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA, but such a finding was inevitable given trends from the year that was. 2014 was the 38th year in a row with an average temperature above averages and was 0.7 degrees Celsius higher than the previous record set in 2005 and 2010.
"NASA is at the forefront of the scientific investigation of the dynamics of the Earth's climate on a global scale," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a press release. "The observed long-term warming trend and the ranking of 2014 as the warmest year on record reinforces the importance for NASA to study Earth as a complete system, and particularly to understand the role and impacts of human activity."
The climatologists believe the warming trend will just increase every year, as extreme weather events, such as an El Niño, will cause changes and are unpredictable in nature.
"NOAA provides decision makers with timely and trusted science-based information about our changing world," Richard Spinrad, NOAA chief scientist, said in the release. "As we monitor changes in our climate, demand for the environmental intelligence NOAA provides is only growing. It's critical that we continue to work with our partners, like NASA, to observe these changes and to provide the information communities need to build resiliency."
