> Last year we had an unusual cold summer... ...which was still "0.5°F above the 20th century average" for the contiguous 48 US states[1]. From looking at the

> Last year we had an unusual cold summer... ...which was still "0.5°F above the 20th century average" for the contiguous 48 US states[1]. From looking at the temperature graph[2], only about ten years between 1900-1980 was hotter than 2014. The fact that this is perceived as an "unusual cold summer" should give you a pause. As usual, there's a relevant xkcd for everyrthing: https://xkcd.com/1321/ https://xkcd.com/1321/ [1] https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/201413 https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/201413 : "In 2014, the contiguous United States (CONUS) average temperature was 52.6°F, 0.5°F above the 20th century average, and tied with 1977 as the 34th warmest year in the 120-year period of record." [2] http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators/weather-climate/temperature.html http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators/weather-... (BTW, seriously, who uses Fahrenheit in scientific discourse?)