WMO calls 2014 the hottest year on record: 14 of 15 hottest years have occurred this century

Last month a release by the Japan Meteorological Agency and a joint release by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called 2014 the hottest year on record. The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization has now weighed in, saying in a statement today that last year was the warmest year since records have been kept, Chris Mooney reports for The Washington Post.

"That means that nearly every top science agency that has examined this question agrees with the conclusion," Mooney writes. The Hadley Center in Britain said in its release that 2014 temperatures were too close to highs in recent years to accurately call it the hottest year on record.

While WMO only ranks 2014 as the hottest year by a few hundredths of a degree, it also says that 14 of the 15 hottest years have occurred in the 21st century, Mooney writes. WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said, “The overall warming trend is more important than the ranking of an individual year.” (NOAA map)