Do they actually have more than 8 years of data to make the claim that the most recent year is “strange”?
That is a good question. Looking at the overall variability of the year-to-year data, one must conclude that 2014 departs as much from the rest as 2009 did when all they had was 2007 and 2008 data; they would have concluded that the clouds started super early in 2009, clearly indicating the end of the world due to noctilucent cloud chaos. Also, 2010 and 2011 show a similar pattern as 2014 but just somewhat less pronounced. So they are just pointing out extremes in a very small data set with the subconscious intent to keep the research funds flowing for what seems to be a very esoteric corner of science.