6/25/2015 NASA GISS: NASA GISS: NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20150116/ 1/3

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Institute for Space Studies

The year 2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an

analysis by NASA scientists. (Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

+ Download video in HD formats

Research News

NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record

Posted Jan. 16, 2015

The year 2014 ranks as Earth’s warmest since 1880, according to two separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists.

The 10 warmest years in the instrumental

record, with the exception of 1998, have now

occurred since 2000. This trend continues a

long­term warming of the planet, according to an

analysis of surface temperature measurements

by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of

Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

In an independent analysis of the raw data, also

released Friday, NOAA scientists also found

2014 to be the warmest on record.

"NASA is at the forefront of the scientific

investigation of the dynamics of the Earth’s

climate on a global scale," said John Grunsfeld,

associate administrator for the Science Mission

Directorate at NASA Headquarters in

Washington. "The observed long­term 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."

Since 1880, Earth’s average surface

temperature has warmed by about 1.4 degrees

Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius), a trend that 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.

"This is the latest in a series of warm years, in a

series of warm decades. While the ranking of

individual years can be affected by chaotic

weather patterns, the long­term trends are

attributable to drivers of climate change that

right now are dominated by human emissions of

greenhouse gases," said GISS Director Gavin

Schmidt.

While 2014 temperatures continue the planet’s

long­term warming trend, scientists still expect to

see year­to­year fluctuations in average global

temperature caused by phenomena such as El

Niño or La Niña. These phenomena warm or

cool the tropical Pacific and are thought to have

played a role in the flattening of the long­term

warming trend over the past 15 years. However,

2014’s record warmth occurred during an El

Niño­neutral year.
6/25/2015 NASA GISS: NASA GISS: NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record

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Maps of the 2014 global temperature anomaly (top) and the 1950­2014 temperature

trend (bottom.) (Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Earth Observatory, NASA/GISS)

"NOAA provides decision makers with timely

and trusted science­based information about

our changing world," said Richard Spinrad,

NOAA chief scientist. "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."

Regional differences in temperature are more

strongly affected by weather dynamics than the

global mean. For example, in the U.S. in 2014,

parts of the Midwest and East Coast were

unusually cool, while Alaska and three western

states — California, Arizona and Nevada —

experienced their warmest year on record,

according to NOAA.

Chart of the temperature anomalies for 1950­2014, also showing the phase of the El Niño­La Niña cycle. (Image Credit:

NASA/GSFC/Earth Observatory, NASA/GISS)>

+ Download PDF of chart

The GISS analysis incorporates surface temperature measurements from 6,300 weather stations, ship­ and buoy­based observations of

sea surface temperatures, and temperature measurements from Antarctic research stations. This raw data is analyzed using an algorithm

that takes into account the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and urban heating effects that could skew the

calculation. The result is an estimate of the global average temperature difference from a baseline period of 1951 to 1980.

NOAA scientists used much of the same raw temperature data, but a different baseline period. They also employ their own methods to

estimate global temperatures.

GISS is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt,

Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New

York.

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites, as well as airborne and ground­based observation

campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long­term data records and

computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community

and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

Related links:

NASA Earth Observatory has posted a somewhat different temperature summation at:

earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=85083

NOAA's National Climatic Data Center's summary is at:

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary­info/global/2014/12
6/25/2015 NASA GISS: NASA GISS: NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record

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This video shows a time series of five­year global temperature averages, mapped

from 1880 to 2014, as estimated by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space

Studies (GISS) in New York. (Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

+ Download this video in HD formats

Additional commentary about the 2014

temperature anomaly is provided by Dr. James

Hansen of Columbia University at:

www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2015/20150116_Temperature2014.pdf

The data set of 2014 surface temperature measurements is available at:

data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/

The methodology used to make the temperature calculation is available at:

data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/sources_v3/

For related press briefing images related to the data, visit:

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/briefings/201501.pdf

For more information about Earth science at NASA, visit:

www.nasa.gov/earth

Media Contacts

Leslie McCarthy, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, N.Y., 212­678­5507, leslie.m.mccarthy@nasa.gov

Steve Cole, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., 202­358­0918, stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

This article was originally prepared as NASA Headquarters release No. 15­010.

NASA Official: Gavin A. Schmidt

GISS Website Curator: Robert B. Schmunk

Page updated: January 16, 2015

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