Globally, May was 0.63 degrees Celsius warmer than the May average between 1981 and 2010, making it the hottest month in this data record, the Copernicus Service for Climate Change said.
The increase in May follows a clear trend registered by Copernicus in the last year. In the past 12 months until May, global temperatures were 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than average, corresponding to the previous year’s high between October 2015 and September 2016.
Europe was generally slightly colder than the average, but with strong geographical differences, the report says.
The most noticeable peak was in Siberia, the typically freezing region that runs through much of Russia, which rose 10 degrees Celsius at medium levels.
An environmental group has described the damage as “catastrophic” and the concentration of contaminants in nearby waters has already exceeded the permitted levels tens of thousands of times, according to the Russian environmental agency Rosprirodnadzor.
Two thirds of Russia are located on permafrost, which is rapidly degrading, puncturing places with gigantic sinkholes.
An extraordinarily hot winter follows in Russia, which would usually be covered in snow at the beginning of a year.
Coffee enthusiast. Travel scholar. Infuriatingly humble zombie fanatic. Thinker. Professional twitter evangelist.
