2014 hottest year

The year 2014 ranks as Earth’s warmest year since 1880, according to two separate reports by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. Excluding 1998, the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 2000. Since temperature records began in 1880, the global average has increased by 1.4° Fahrenheit. This trend is largely driven by the increase in carbon dioxide and other human emissions into the planet’s atmosphere. The majority of that warming has occurred in the past three decades.