Understanding Climate

Worldwide in 2014, three dozen reference glaciers experienced an average mass loss equivalent to of 853 millimeters of water equivalent in 2014.

In 2014, the upper ocean held more heat than average throughout most of the major ocean basins.

In 2014, precipitation over land was generally below average, while precipitation over the oceans was above average.

Overall, average global river outflow in 2014 slightly exceeded the climate normal.

In 2014, global average sea level was 2.6 inches (67 mm) above the 1993 average, which is the highest yearly average in the satellite record.

Cool conditions prevailed across large parts of the North America in 2014. Everywhere else, the frequency of warm days was higher than average, and the frequency of cold nights was below average.

In 2014, the most essential indicators of Earth's changing climate continued to reflect trends of a warming planet, with several setting new records.  Here are NOAA Climate.gov's highlights from the State of the Climate in 2014 report released online today by the American Meteorological Society (AMS).

The latest installment of NOAA's Arctic Report Card confirms that Arctic air temperatures are rising at more than twice the rate of the planet as a whole. This collection of images highlights some of the key changes in physical and biological conditions in the Far North.

As the assessment now known as the BAMS State of the Climate report pushes into its third decade, international participation is at an all-time high. From atmospheric chemists to tropical meteorologists, more than 420 authors from institutions in 57 countries contributed to this year's report.

The annual average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere stood at 395.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2013—a 27 percent increase compared to conditions before the Industrial Revolution. On May 9, 2013, the daily average concentration of CO2 surpassed 400 ppm for the first time at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.