The Japan Meteorological Association declared Monday that 2014 was the hottest year since humans have been recording temperature data. Citylab's John Metcalfe however reminded readers on Tuesday that the JMA made it clear that its results are only "preliminary".
The data revealed that the average surface temperature for the planet was the highest on record since 1891. If the JMA's data is correct, 1998 becomes the second-hottest year on record, while 2013 and 2010 are equally placed in third.
In addition to the conclusive findings from the JMA that are yet to be published, Mr Metcalfe pointed out that U.S. climate-monitoring agencies, NASA and NOAA, will release their own assessments over "the next couple of weeks." Mr Metcalfe also made his personal viewpoint clear in the Citylab piece:
"There's no doubt we're living in a perilous age of abnormal heat, and that humans helped usher it in."
The JMA's preliminary announcements were reinforced by a number of significant events during the year, including the hottest recorded year in the history of the United Kingdom, and record-high temperatures in California that resulted in an extreme drought. In Perth, Western Australia, footage of an egg being fried outside was published on Monday, where the temperature reading was 46 degrees Celsius.