The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that May 2024 has marked a full year of record-high global temperatures, with the month itself ranking as the warmest May on record. Earth’s ocean temperatures also set a record high for the 14th month in a row.
The average global May temperature was 1.18 degrees C above the 20th-century average of 14.8 degrees C, ranking as the warmest May in NOAA’s 175-year global record. May 2024 marked the 12th-consecutive month of record-high temperatures for the planet.
Looking at the world’s land masses, temperatures were above average across most of the globe except for western North America, Greenland, southern South America, western Russia and parts of eastern Antarctica. Africa had its warmest May on record.
Sea surface temperatures were above average over most areas (and record warm over the tropical Atlantic Ocean), while parts of the Southern, southeastern Pacific and southern Indian Ocean basins were below average.
The March–May period — defined as the Northern Hemisphere’s meteorological spring and the Southern Hemisphere’s meteorological autumn — was the warmest on record at 2.32 degrees F (1.29 degrees C) above average. Africa, Europe and South America each had their warmest such year-to-date period, with North America ranking second warmest.
