2014 was 'hottest year on record': UN

GENEVA - Agence France-Presse

This July 18, 2014 file photo shows children as they play in the water of a fountain on a hot summer day in Nice, southeastern France. AFP Photo

The year 2014 was the hottest on record, "consistent" with a changing climate, the UN's weather agency said Feb. 2.
      
Average global air temperatures in 2014 were 0.57 degrees Celsius (1.03 degree Fahrenheit) higher than the long-term average of 14 C (57.2 F) in a 1961-1990 reference period, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a statement.
      
"Fourteen of the fifteen hottest years have all been this century," said WMO Secretary General Michel Jarraud.
      
"In 2014, record-breaking heat combined with torrential rainfall and floods in many countries and drought in some others -- consistent with the expectation of a changing climate," he added.
      
UN members will meet in Geneva next week for talks on a global climate pact that must be signed in Paris in December for curbing emissions of greenhouse gases.
      
The UN seeks to limit warming to no more than 2 C over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, but scientists warn the Earth is on target for double the target, a scenario that could be catastrophic.