Global Warming Update

May Global Temperature Change*

Rankings: May 1880 - May 2018
Comparisons with 20th Century Global Average Surface Temperature
(Temperatures are not compared here with a pre-industrial baseline)

*Surface temperature changes relative to 20th Century global average (1901 - 2000)
Source data  NOAA-NCEI State of the Climate: Global Analysis  [Web + data download]

Warmer-than-average conditions engulfed much of the world's land and ocean surfaces, giving way to the fourth highest May temperature since global records began in 1880.

The May 2018 combined average temperature over the global land and ocean surfaces was 0.80°C (1.44°F) above the 20th century average of 14.8°C (58.6°F).

The years 2014–2018 rank among the five warmest Mays on record, with 2016 the warmest May at +0.88°C (+1.58°F).

May 2018 also marks the 42nd consecutive May and the 401th consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th century average. The most notable warm temperature departures from average during May 2018 were present across much of the contiguous U.S. and Europe, where temperatures were 3.0°C (5.4°F) above average or higher.

In contrast, the most notable cool temperature departures from average were present across northeastern Canada and central Russia where temperatures were 3.0°C (5.4°F) below average or lower. Record warmth was observed across parts of North America, Europe, Asia, as well as the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Record cold May temperatures were limited to northeastern Canada and the northern Atlantic Ocean, off the southern coast of Greenland.  [NOAA global analysis accessed July 10, 2018].

"The science is sobering—the global temperature in 2012 was among the hottest since records began in 1880. Make no mistake: without concerted action, the very future of our planet is in peril."

~ Christine Lagarde, Managing Director
International Monetary Fund
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NOAA's global analysis: "2016 became the warmest year in NOAA's 137-year series. Remarkably, this is the third consecutive year a new global annual temperature record has been set. The average global temperature across land and ocean surface areas for 2016 was 0.94°C (1.69°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F), surpassing the previous record warmth of 2015 by 0.04°C (0.07°F). The global temperatures in 2016 were majorly influenced by strong El Niño conditions that prevailed at the beginning of the year.

This marks the fifth time in the 21st century a new record high annual temperature has been set (along with 2005, 2010, 2014, and 2015) and also marks the 40th consecutive year (since 1977) that the annual temperature has been above the 20th century average. To date, all 16 years of the 21st century rank among the seventeen warmest on record (1998 is currently the eighth warmest.) The five warmest years have all occurred since 2010.

Overall, the global annual temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.07°C (0.13°F) per decade since 1880 and at an average rate of 0.17°C (0.31°F) per decade since 1970."  [NOAA global analysis for 2016 accessed March 6, 2017].

"Globally-averaged temperatures in 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius). Only once before, in 1998, has the new record been greater than the old record by this much."

~ NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies [NASA post of January 20, 2016]

Before the end of 2015, scientists projected that average global temperature increase for 2015 will exceed 1°C above pre-industrial levels.  The years 1850-1990 are used as the pre-industrial baseline by the MET Office and Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the UK.  The MET Office released this statement in November 2015:

"This year marks an important first but that doesn't necessarily mean every year from now on will be a degree or more above pre-industrial levels, as natural variability will still play a role in determining the temperature in any given year.  As the world continues to warm in the coming decades, however, we will see more and more years passing the 1 degree marker - eventually it will become the norm."

~ Peter Stott
Head of Climate Monitoring and Attribution (MET Office)

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