shape up

11月も終わり2014年も残りわずかとなりましたが，アメリカ海洋大気庁によれば2014年は観測史上最も暑い年になるようです。
shape upは「まとまる, 具体化する」という意味の表現ですが，辞書にはさらに「〈事態などが〉思い通りに進展する」とありました（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）。よって見出しのis shaping upには「2014年が最も気温の高い年になることはデータから予想されており，その予想通りに推移している」という意味が込められていると考えられます。（Koyamamoto）

NOAA: 2014 is shaping up as hottest year on record
(CNN) -- The first ten months of 2014 have been the hottest since record keeping began more than 130 years ago, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
That may be hard to believe for people in places like Buffalo, New York, which saw a record early snowfall this year.
But NOAA says, despite the early bitter cold across parts of the United States in recent weeks, it's been a hot year so far for the Earth.
With two months left on the calendar, 2014 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record.
The average global temperature between January and October has been 0.68 degrees Celsius (1.22 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 20th century's average global temperature of 14.1 C (57.4 F).
NOAA's analysis is an important "health gauge" indicating an ominous trend for the planet, says CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
"It's becoming increasingly more difficult to be a skeptic of the causes of our warming planet," he says.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/30/tech/innovation/record-temperatures/index.html?hpt=hp_t3