2014 warmest year on record, warns report

Global sea levels swelled to a high, tropical cyclones multiplied, and the world’s thermometer set a record in 2014, according to a report that tracks climate.

The Earth’s “annual physical” found evidence of warming around the globe, from shrinking glaciers and Arctic sea ice to record levels of greenhouse gases.

The data, from 413 researchers in 58 countries, was released by the American Meteorological Society.

The numbers are likely to be seized on by politicians and environmental groups who want to curb global-warming emissions.

The UN wants to broker a deal this year among 190 countries to restrict greenhouse gas pollution. In the US, president Barack Obama’s attempt to limit emissions from power plants, oil and gas drillers, and other sources, has run into fierce resistance from Republicans in Congress.

Four independent measures last year found “the highest annual global surface temperatures in at least 135 years of modern record-keeping”.

Yesterday’s report said that “the warmth was distributed widely around the globe’s land areas”.

The annual ‘State of the Climate’ report, compiled by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found that global sea levels reached a record high last year, about 67mm above the mean of 1993, when satellite measurements began.

There were 91 tropical cyclones in 2014, “well above” the 1981-2010 annual average of 82 storms. Europe and Mexico experienced their warmest years on record, Africa had above-average temperatures across most of the continent and Australia had its third-warmest year.

Eastern North America was the only major region to record below-average temperature for the year.

“Most of the dozens of essential climate variables monitored each year in this report continued to follow their long-term trends in 2014, with several setting new records,” researchers wrote.

“Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — the major greenhouse gases released into Earth’s atmosphere — once again all reached record-high average atmospheric concentrations for the year.

“Europe observed its warmest year on record, by a large margin, with close to two dozen countries breaking their previous national temperature records.”

The report is published in the bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.