2014 Ties For Warmest Year, Results From Berkeley Earth

The details behind these conclusions, including charts showing the warming and maps showing the distribution, have been posted on the Berkeley Earth website, at www.BerkeleyEarth.org/2014

The warmth in 2014 is not uniform across the Earth.  The US state of Michigan in 2014 recorded its 14^th coldest year (-1.12C relative to the 1961-1990 average).  In contrast, the US state of California, in the midst of a severe drought, recorded its warmest year to date (+1.92C) besting the previous record by 0.76C.  Overall, the contiguous United States had its 38^th warmest year (+0.23C).  For a map see www.BerkeleyEarth.org/2014

Internationally, Germany (+2.10 C), the United Kingdom (+1.33C), Sweden (+2.23 C) and several other European countries also set all-time records for high annual average temperature, as did the continent of Europe as a whole (+1.69C).

In total, we estimate that 8.4% of Earth's surface and 5.6% of its land surface set all-time record high annual averages in 2014; 0.11% of the Earth's surface and 0.03% of land set all-time record low annual averages in 2014.

Our margin of uncertainty was remarkably small (0.05C with 95% confidence), thanks, in part, by the inclusion of data from over 30,000 temperature stations, and by the use of optimized statistical methods. Even so, the highest temperature year could not be distinguished. That is, of course, an indication that the Earth's average temperature for the last decade has changed little; the ten warmest years all occur since 1998.

Full report: www.BerkeleyEarth.org/2014