2014 the hottest year in modern history

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

The much-anticipated report by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was confirmed by an independent analysis from the US space agency Nasa that reached the same conclusion.

“The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880.”

Parts of the world that saw record heat included Russia, western Alaska, the western United States, parts of interior South America, parts of eastern and western coastal Australia, north Africa and most of Europe.

December also broke records, with the highest combined land and ocean average surface temperature for any December in modern history.