(Geneva) – The World Meteorological Organisation, WMO, has ranked 2014 as the hottest year on record, as part of a continuing trend. After consolidating leading international datasets, WMO noted that the difference in temperature between the warmest years is only a few hundredths of a degree – less than the margin of uncertainty.
Average global air temperatures over land and sea surface in 2014 were 0.57 degrees Celcius above the long-term average of 14.00 degrees Celcius for the 1961-1990 reference period. By comparison, temperatures were 0.55 degrees Celcius above average in 2010 and 0.54 degrees Celcius above average in 2005, according to WMO calculations. The estimated margin of uncertainty was 0.10 degrees Celcius.
“The overall warming trend is more important than the ranking of an individual year,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. “Analysis of the datasets indicates that 2014 was nominally the warmest on record, although there is very little difference between the three hottest years.” “Fourteen of the fifteen hottest years have all been this century. We expect global warming to continue, given that rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the increasing heat content of the oceans are committing us to a warmer future,” he added.
(Courtesy WAM)
