WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal records show the globe hit a record high for heat in May, driven by warm ocean waters.
May's average temperature on Earth of 59.93 degrees Fahrenheit beat the old record set four years ago. In April, the globe tied the 2010 record for that month. Records go back to 1880.
Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb and other experts say there's a good chance global heat records will keep falling, especially next year because an El Nino weather event is brewing on top of man-made global warming. An El Nino is a warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean that alters climate worldwide and usually spikes global temperatures.
In the U.S., May was far from a heat record. It was only one degree warmer than the 20th century average.