2014 confirmed as hottest year on record

Pace Turf had reported earlier that 2014 was likely to be the hottest on record for the planet. Now, we unfortunately have confirmation of those worst fears. This week, Scientists at two independent organizations — NASA (the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) issued separate data compilations showing that 2014 was the warmest year since record–keeping began in 1880. Two other scientific groups that track global temperatures — one in Japan, and another in Britain, will issue similar reports in the near future. Extreme heat was the norm in much of the world last year, with records set across large areas of every inhabited continent. Only the eastern portion of the U.S. recorded below average temperatures in 2014. Of even greater concern is that the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1997.Scientific consensus is that the majority of planetary warming is the result of human activity — primarily the production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that are produced when fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) are burnt. Political and social consensus has been more elusive. Regardless of your thoughts on the causes of global warming, there is all kinds of other economic and environmental reasons to regularly review our fertilizer, pesticide, water and fuel use patterns, and determine whether more can be done to conserve.