NASA and NOAA announced this month that 2014 was the warmest year on record. NASA reports that since 1880, the average surface temperature of the earth has warmed by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Global temperatures are generally affected by El Niño or La Niña, however neither of those sea-surface temperature phenomena occurred in 2014. Regional temperatures across the U.S. varied, with parts of the Northeast and Midwest experiencing unseasonably cooler temperatures and California, Arizona, Nevada and Alaska experiencing record high temperatures.