The Earth’s average temperature for April was 58.1°F (14.5°C), the hottest for any April on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said.
Indeed, the world’s average temperature was the highest on record for the January-April period, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Centre.
For January-April, the average was 56.0°F (13.3°C), the agency said.
Areas particularly warmer than average included Canada, Alaska, the eastern United States, Australia, South Asia, northern Africa and northern Russia.
Cooler-than-normal places included Mongolia, Argentina, far eastern Russia, the western contiguous United States and most of China.
Climate experts said the El Nino warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean weakened in April, as sea-surface temperature anomalies decreased.
The report noted that Arctic sea ice was below normal for the 11th consecutive April, covering an average of 14.7 million sq. km.
Antarctic sea ice extent in April was near average, just 0.3 per cent below the 1979-2000 average.
