Summary The much-anticipated report confirmed by an independent analysis from the US space agency NASA.
MIAMI (AFP) - 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 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.
"Record warmth was spread around the world," said the NOAA report.
"The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880."
For the year, the average temperature was 1.24 degrees Fahrenheit (0.69 Celsius) above the 20th century average, beating the previous record-holding years of 2005 and 2010 by 0.07 F (0.04 C).
A man walks in Barra da Tijuca beach during the sunrise in Rio de Janeiro - Reuters
A police officer mans a roadblock as smoke billows from a wildfire driven by fierce Santa Ana winds in Rancho Cucamonga, California - Reuters
A tourist holds an umbrella to protect from the sun as she walks in front of the Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis Hill in Athens - Reuters
The carcass of a cow is pictured in the town of Floresta, in Pernambuco State, Brazil - Reuters
Cars, that the police suspect were stolen and dumped in the lake behind the Jaguari dam, appear on dry ground as the lake dries up due to a prolonged drought in Braganca Paulista, Sao Paulo state - Reuters
Children play in a fountain during a hot and sunny summer day in Nice, southeastern France - Reuters
Children look at the carcass of a cow which died due to drought at the El Rosario farm in San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua - Reuters
Fire-fighters work to extinguish wildfires near the Sobradinho neighborhood in Brasilia - Reuters
People sunbathe on the beach of Wannsee near to Berlin - Reuters
