File:January-May 2020 temp anomaly.jpg

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Global Summary / Earth Science

Globally, May 2020 is estimated to have been the warmest May since records began in 1850, exceeding the previously warmest year in 2016

• http://berkeleyearth.org/may-2020-temperature-update/

The global mean temperature in May 2020 was 0.99 ± 0.08 °C (1.78 ± 0.14 °F) above the 1951 to 1980 average.

This is equivalent to being 1.36 ± 0.09 °C (2.43 ± 0.16 °F) above the 1850 to 1900 average, which is frequently used as a benchmark for the preindustrial period.

The global mean temperature anomaly in May 2020 cooled markedly compared to April (a decrease of 0.14 °C) and was below the temperature anomaly of January through April, but still similar to values observed in November and December 2019 and among the warmest months ever observed. Due to higher weather variability during the Northern winter months, it is not unusual for the temperature anomaly in May to be somewhat smaller than those in January to March. Though the temperature anomaly is less extreme than in a few other recent months, it remains the highest temperature anomaly ever observed during May.

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