2014 officially the hottest year on record, US government scientists say

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

The numbers are in. The year 2014 – after shattering temperature records that had stood for hundreds of years across virtually all of Europe, and roasting parts of South America, China and the Russian far east – was the hottest on record, with global temperatures 1.24F (0.69C) higher than the 20th century average, US government scientists said on Friday.

A day after international researchers warned human activities had pushed the planet to the brink, new evidence of climate change arrived. The world was the hottest it has been since systematic records began in 1880, especially on the oceans, which the agency confirmed were the driver of 2014’s temperature rise.

The global average temperatures over land and sea surface for the year was 1.24F (0.69C) above the 20th century average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) and Nasa reported.

The scientists said 2014 was 0.07F (0.04C) higher than the previous records set in 2005 and 2010, and the 38th consecutive year of above average temperatures.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/16/2014-hottest-year-on-record-scientists-noaa-nasa

[progree]

1. Oceans driving the increase? Then why don't we drain the oceans? Problem solved.

Expect to see RepubliCONs introduce bills to do so in the House and Senate. Will also obviously solve the problem of sea level rise.

Oh, I forgot. They don't believe any of this is happening, or its caused by some solar cycle or somesuch.

The world was the hottest it has been since systematic records began in 1880, especially on the oceans, which the agency confirmed were the driver of 2014’s temperature rise.

[progree]

2. Interesting globe - what regions had above and below average temperatures

From the OP article --



North America is interesting -- cooler than average -- even much cooler than average in parts -- for the eastern 1/3 except the east coast - the polar vortex and all that

Britain saw its hottest summer in three and a half centuries

The rest of the OP article is well worth the read -- what happened in different regions of the world.

[Locrian]

5. interesting that

>>North America is interesting -- cooler than average -- even much cooler than average in parts -- for the eastern 1/3 except the east coast - the polar vortex and all that


I'm sure that's one reason a lot of people in the US middle think climate change (ie global warming to them) is just a big hoax.

[niyad]

3. k and r for this unsurprising, but depressing, information.

[Reter]

4. Too bad somehow NYC missed it

It was a very cold Winter last year, and a cool Summer. Even July 4th only had a high of 69 degrees.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Near average for the year overall, according to the map in #2 (nt)

[isobar]

7. No surprise.

[Bandit]

8. Maybe Republicans could vote on whether it really is warmer or not..

They say they are not scientists but are quite happy to vote on subjects they say they are not qualified to speak on.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Bernie Sanders has called their bluff:

Does climate change exist? The Senate is about to let us know

An amendent to the Keystone XL pipeline bill hopes to force Republican climate change deniers to state whether they agree with the science or not

The measure, which will come up in the debate about the Keystone XL pipeline, will ask the Senate to vote on whether climate change is real, caused by human activities, and has already caused devastating problems in the US and around the world.

It is intended to force Republicans who deny the existence of climate change – and they are a majority in Congress – to own their anti-science positions, said Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont behind the amendment.
...
Sanders’s amendment has no chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Congress – and he acknowledges that is not the point.
...
But the amendment promises to produce some embarrassing footage from the Senate floor as Republicans try to align the party leadership’s position on climate change with the scientific community – and indeed much of the world outside the United States.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/15/does-climate-change-exist-the-senate-is-about-to-let-us-know

[tclambert]

9. And that was without an El Niño.

The previous three record-breaking years--2010, 2005, and especially 1998--were all El Niño years.