2014 shaping up to be warmest year on record

According to a new report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the first ten months of 2014 have been the warmest since record keeping began more than 130 years ago. NOAA reports that the combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for the January-October period was 0.68°C (1.22°F) above the 20th century average of 14.1°C (57.4°F). For October, it was 0.74°C (1.33°F) above the 20th century average of 14.0°C (57.1°F).

The high October temperature was driven by warmth across the globe over both the land and ocean surfaces, says NOAA, and was fairly evenly distributed between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Southern Hemisphere had its hottest October on record and the Northern Hemisphere its third warmest.
October marked the third consecutive month and fifth of the past six with a record high global temperature for its respective month (July was fourth highest).

Find out more from NOAA