2014 was Earth's warmest year since 1880: NASA

Zee Media Bureau/R Nandini

New Delhi: According to two separate analyses conducted by scientists of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the year 2014 ranked as Earth's warmest year since 1880.

The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000. This trend continues a long-term warming of the planet, according to an analysis of surface temperature measurements by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies.

The human race's inability to control global warming has resulted in rising temperatures and will continue to do so if a collaborative effort fails to curb it even now.

"While the ranking of individual years can be affected by chaotic weather patterns, the long-term trends are attributable to drivers of climate change that right now are dominated by human emissions of greenhouse gases," said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York.

"The data shows quite clearly that it's the greenhouse gas trends that are responsible for the majority of the trends," he told reporters. Emissions were still rising "so we may anticipate further record highs in the years to come."

A recent study has also suggested that there's a strong link between global warming and extreme weather conditions.

UN studies show there already are more extremes of heat and rainfall and project ever more disruptions to food and water supplies. Sea levels are rising, threatening millions of people living near coasts, as ice melts from Greenland to Antarctica.

(With Agency inputs)