News•January 16, 2015

Five Graphics That Show 2014's Record Heat

Unless you've been living under a climate news rock, you've probably heard that 2014 was the warmest year on record. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released data on Friday confirming last year took the crown from 2010 by about 0.1°F and running 1.24°F above the long-term average.

That makes it the latest in a string of warm years with all 10 of the hottest years coming since 1998 and nine of the 10 hottest since 2002. The last cooler-than-average year was 1976 and the last cooler-than-average month was in February 1985, which means the pearl anniversary is coming up next month.

Of course there are plenty of other words to describe the records but why bother just talking about it when you can see in five images just what makes 2014 a special kind of year.

Slideshow