This May was the hottest May on record — and it's not even 2015's first record-setting month. According to a report released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this May marked the hottest May since records first started being kept in 1880. May's record-breaking temperatures round out the past five months of what is being called the "warmest start to a year on record," according to Bloomberg.
This year's heatwave isn't simply a fluke, either — it's part of a larger trend. Out of the 14 hottest years ever recorded, 13 have occurred in the 21st century. While 2015's blistering temperatures could certainly drop off, there's also the chance that they could persist, and surpass 2014 as the hottest year on record. This May, for instance, surpassed the record set last May by .014 degrees — 1.57 degrees above the average 20th century temperature for the month.
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