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2014: The hottest year ever

Reuters Published January 20, 2015
Fire-fighters work to extinguish wildfires near the Sobradinho neighborhood in Brasilia.
Fire-fighters work to extinguish wildfires near the Sobradinho neighborhood in Brasilia.
A man walks through the dried-up bed of a reservoir in Sanyuan county, Shaanxi province, July 30, 2014.
A man walks through the dried-up bed of a reservoir in Sanyuan county, Shaanxi province, July 30, 2014.
The carcass of a cow is pictured in the town of Floresta, in Pernambuco State, Brazil.
The carcass of a cow is pictured in the town of Floresta, in Pernambuco State, Brazil.
Small forest fires are pictured between pine trees at night at Sierra de Tejeda nature park, on a burnt mountain from El Collado mountain pass, near the town of Competa, near Malaga, southern Spain, June 30, 2014.
Small forest fires are pictured between pine trees at night at Sierra de Tejeda nature park, on a burnt mountain from El Collado mountain pass, near the town of Competa, near Malaga, southern Spain, June 30, 2014.
Cars, that the police suspect were stolen and dumped in the lake behind the Jaguari dam, appear on dry ground as the lake dries up due to a prolonged drought in Braganca Paulista, Sao Paulo state.
Cars, that the police suspect were stolen and dumped in the lake behind the Jaguari dam, appear on dry ground as the lake dries up due to a prolonged drought in Braganca Paulista, Sao Paulo state.
A police officer mans a roadblock as smoke billows from a wildfire driven by fierce Santa Ana winds in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
A police officer mans a roadblock as smoke billows from a wildfire driven by fierce Santa Ana winds in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
People sunbathe on the beach of Wannsee near to Berlin, July 20, 2014.
People sunbathe on the beach of Wannsee near to Berlin, July 20, 2014.
Children play in a fountain during a hot and sunny summer day in Nice, southeastern France, July 31, 2014.
Children play in a fountain during a hot and sunny summer day in Nice, southeastern France, July 31, 2014.
A worker of SABESP, a Brazilian enterprise of Sao Paulo state, that provides water and sewage services to residential, commercial and industrial areas stands next to water markers at Jaguary dam in Braganca Paulista, Brazil.
A worker of SABESP, a Brazilian enterprise of Sao Paulo state, that provides water and sewage services to residential, commercial and industrial areas stands next to water markers at Jaguary dam in Braganca Paulista, Brazil.
A tourist holds an umbrella to protect from the sun as she walks in front of the Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis Hill in Athens, June 26, 2014.
A tourist holds an umbrella to protect from the sun as she walks in front of the Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis Hill in Athens, June 26, 2014.
An aerial view of the Atibainha dam, part of the Cantareira reservoir, during a drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo state, Brazil.
An aerial view of the Atibainha dam, part of the Cantareira reservoir, during a drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo state, Brazil.
The Talega Fire burns at Camp Pendleton, California, May 16, 2014.
The Talega Fire burns at Camp Pendleton, California, May 16, 2014.
A boat sits on the nearly dry lake bed behind the Nazare Paulista dam, part of the Cantareira water system that provides greater Sao Paulo with most of its water, in Nazare Paulista, Brazil.
A boat sits on the nearly dry lake bed behind the Nazare Paulista dam, part of the Cantareira water system that provides greater Sao Paulo with most of its water, in Nazare Paulista, Brazil.
A man walks in Barra da Tijuca beach during the sunrise in Rio de Janeiro, January 31, 2014.
A man walks in Barra da Tijuca beach during the sunrise in Rio de Janeiro, January 31, 2014.
An orangutan holds a paper bag over its head under the hot sun at the National Zoo in Washington, September 4, 2014.
An orangutan holds a paper bag over its head under the hot sun at the National Zoo in Washington, September 4, 2014.
An aerial view of small dams containing water are seen in dry paddocks located north-west of the city of Melbourne, January 27, 2014.
An aerial view of small dams containing water are seen in dry paddocks located north-west of the city of Melbourne, January 27, 2014.
Firefighters battling the King Fire watch as a backfire burns along Highway 50 in Fresh Pond, California.
Firefighters battling the King Fire watch as a backfire burns along Highway 50 in Fresh Pond, California.
Peasants try to lift a horse dying from hunger at the El Rosario farm in San Francisco Libre town, Nicaragua, August 19, 2014.
Peasants try to lift a horse dying from hunger at the El Rosario farm in San Francisco Libre town, Nicaragua, August 19, 2014.

Record-breaking temperatures scorched the planet last year, making 2014 the hottest in more than a century and raising new concerns about global warming, according to US government scientists.

“The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880,” said a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The average temperature in 2014 was above the previous record-holding years of 2005 and 2010.

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Comments (7) Closed
Euro
Jan 20, 2015 05:19pm
Humans are destroying the only planet in the observable universe which can support life. We may already be in the first or second stage of a mass instinction which will, if not reversed with in OUR life time, make planet Earth unlivable for humans and the majority of other complex life within a couple of millennias. This is just a blink of an eye in the history of earth and evolution. Maybe this is the Great Filter scientist talks about when observing no traces of intelligent life in the universe. Maybe intelligent life has a way to destroy the very planet they inhabitat by global warming.
Recommend 0
jj
Jan 20, 2015 07:41pm
The west will survive as they save a lot of water, Canada will be the saudi arabia of the world in the coming years as it has the most fresh water lakes in the world. One barrel of water will cost the third world 150$ a barrel. No one would need oil but water to survive.
Recommend 0
zainab
Jan 20, 2015 09:15pm
@Euro Please do not blame to the whole world in the disguise of 'Humans'. It is the westerners, the civilized, the developed who are still the major contributors to the destruction of this planet. Not the Bangladesh or Nigeria or Nicaragua, or Afghanistan or Pakistan or ....
Recommend 0
Saraz
Jan 21, 2015 01:14pm
With such catastrophic climate changes you can not build Kalabagh dam.
Recommend 0
Janu Not-German
Jan 22, 2015 03:42am
Awesome snaps!
Recommend 0
Hasnain
Jan 22, 2015 01:27pm
Ominous...
Recommend 0
mrhopsy
Jan 25, 2015 03:18pm
@Saraz here comes a fresh excuse.
Recommend 0

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