Summer's Heat Is Blazing in Faster Than It Ever Has in 100 Years

(Bloomberg) -- It has been hotter in May the past few years than in more than a century.

The world’s land and oceans combined to reach 60.13 degrees Fahrenheit (15.63 Celsius) in the month that just ended, or 1.67 degrees above the 20th century average, the National Centers for Environmental Information said in a statement Tuesday. That means the top-five hottest Mays in records going back to 1880 have all occurred since 2015.

“What we have been seeing is the temperatures have been increasing, not only on a monthly, but annually and seasonally as well,’’ said Ahira Sanchez-Lugo, a climatologist at the centers in Asheville, North Carolina.

Nine of the 10 warmest Mays occurred since 2010, with 1998 as the only outlier. “We have seen quite a spike since 2010 at least,’’ Sanchez-Lugo said.

While the rest of the world baked, the western U.S., central and southeastern Canada and northern and central Europe were actually cooler than average. The lower readings and heavy rains were caused by a low pressure trough draped across the American continent that’s sent rivers over their banks and left corn and soybean planting lagging the five-year average.

Northern Canada and Antarctica had temperatures rise about 7.2 degrees above normal in May.

Top-10 Year

Year to date, 2019 is the third-warmest year on record and has a 99.9% chance of finishing in the top five, Sanchez-Lugo said. “We are virtually certain it is going to be a top-10 year,’’ she said.

“The trend is to continue to warm so that is how the temperatures are moving,’’ Sanchez-Lugo said. “The rate of change is to continue to increase. I am not surprised by this year being a top 10 and most likely the next few years will be among the top 10.’’

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Pratish Narayanan, Reg Gale

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