May 2015 is the warmest on record worldwide – L’Express

May 2015 was the hottest for that month in the world since the early temperature records in 1880, showing that global warming continues, said Thursday the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The year 2014 had been the warmest on record.

Derek Arndt, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said during a telephone press conference, that the period covering the first five months of 2015 was also the warmest on record .

0.87 degree above average twentieth century

The average temperature at the Earth’s surface (land and ocean) was in May 0.87 degree above the average of the twentieth century for this month, the highest for the period from 1880 to 2015, surpassing slightly (0.08 degree) the previous record set in 2014, said NOAA. In the Arctic Ocean, the average ice extent in May was 5.5% lower than the average for the period 1981 to 2010.

The arctic ice amounted in May 2015, the third lowest area since the start of satellite observations in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Center using data from NOAA and NASA.

More ice in the Antarctic

But in Antarctica, the ice area in May was 12.1% above the average from 1981 to 2010. It is also the largest extent of Antarctic ice for that month in the history, surpassing the previous record of May 2014.