May 2020 was the planet’s warmest May since record-keeping began in 1880, said NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and NASA June 12. NOAA rated May as tied with 2016 for the warmest May on record, while NASA put May 2020 ahead of May 2016 by 0.06°C. Minor differences in rankings often occur between NOAA and NASA, resulting in the different techniques they use to handle data-sparse regions such as the Arctic, Report says, citing TASS.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), last May was the warmest in weather and climate observations while the year-to-date period of January-May ranks as the second-warmest such period on record, just 0.06°C behind the record set in 2016. According to NCEI’s annual temperature outlook, the year 2020 has more than a 99.9% chance to rank among the five warmest years on record, and a 49% chance of being the warmest year on record. If so, calendar 2020 would mean each of the past seven years would be among the seven warmest years on record.
The first five months of 2020 were the warmest on record in South America, Europe, and Asia. The temperature was at least 3.5 degrees Celsius above average across the vast areas of Northern Asia. Record high temperatures were also recorded in January-May in the Atlantic ocean, South Pacific, and Indian oceans.