Getting heated

Scientists have long known that Earth is heating up, but researchers have now pinpointed the area they think will experience the greatest rise in temperature.

The Northern Hemisphere—and Western Europe in particular—will see a jump of nearly 2 degrees, says the latest Geophysical Research Letters, reported USA Today.

Judith Lean, a scientist with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., led the study. The change is attributed to a warmer solar cycle and greenhouse gases.

Among the findings is the conclusion that global temperatures will rise by about one-third of a degree by 2014. Scientists also claim that a drop in the solar cycle thereafter will sustain that temperature for a number of years.