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Earth sweats through hottest spring on record

In this May 23, 2016 file photo, a man bathes his son on a hot afternoon in Mumbai, India. Federal scientists say Earth sizzled to its 13th straight month of record heat in May. Photo: Rafiq Maqbool, AP

A combination of long-term, man-made global warming and the El Niño climate pattern caused the spring heat, NOAA climate scientist Deke Arndt said Thursday.

Spring temperatures were unusually warm across nearly all of the world's land areas, with record heat in northwestern North America, northern South America, central and northeastern Africa, Oceania, parts of Central America, the Caribbean and the Middle East, NOAA said.

India sweltered to a scorching 123.8 degrees on May 19, setting a new all-time high and breaking a 60-year-old record, the India Meteorological Department said. In the U.S., this spring was the 6th warmest on record, and Alaska recorded its warmest spring by a whopping 8 degrees