May's temperatures broke global records yet again, as the northern hemisphere finishes its hottest spring on record, statistics released Tuesday by NASA showed.

The Arctic in particular experienced abnormal heat, causing Arctic sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet to start melting unusually early, said NASA.

Alaska recorded its warmest spring on record by a wide margin, and in Finland the average May temperature was between three and five degrees warmer than usual in most regions, according to data from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

"The state of the climate so far this year gives us much cause for alarm," said David Carlson, Director of Geneva's World Climate Research Programme, in a release from the World Meteorological Association.

Now dissipated, the El Nino weather pattern factored into 2016's record-setting heat, but meteorologists say greenhouse gases emitted from human activities remain the underlying cause.

"The super El Nino is only partly to blame. Abnormal is the new normal," Carlson added.

Strong El Nino temperatures did cause more than 53 percent of Australia to experience its warmest autumn on record.

May's exceptional warmth was accompanied by extreme weather events including abnormally heavy rains throughout Europe and the southern United States, as well as "widespread and severe" coral reef bleaching.

Austraila's Bureau of Meteorology blamed warm waters for "unprecedented" bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is expected to announce complete global May temperature records in the coming days.

Recent predictions by US scientists anticipate that 2016 will go down as Earth's hottest year on record -- on the heels of record-setting years in 2014 and 2015.

In late May, NOAA announced that April also registered its highest temperatures ever, marking the twelfth consecutive month of record heat.

The first four months of 2016 were the warmest globally in 136 years.

Scotland meets climate goals early
Edinburgh, Scotland (UPI) Jun 14, 2016 - The Scottish government said Tuesday it's reduced its greenhouse gas emissions to the point that it met its goals for 2020 years ahead of schedule.

"Scotland is making outstanding progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said in a statement.

Data published by the Scottish government show total emissions are down 12.5 percent year-on-year and are 45.8 percent below a baseline level based on 1990 emissions. Scotland is besting the British rate of decline by 6.5 percent.

"These statistics show that we not only met the annual 2014 emissions reduction target but also exceeded the level of our world-leading 2020 target for a 42 percent reduction, six years ahead of schedule," the secretary said.

Scotland pegged its future during a 2014 bid for independence on revenue from oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. Had it passed, an independent Scotland would've drawn on revenue from the oil and gas sector to fuel the economy while generating electricity from renewable resources.

Lower crude oil prices may be pressuring some economies. Scotland does not count oil and gas exports in its economic data, though gross domestic product grew only 0.1 percent during the third quarter of 2015.

A report from the World Bank, meanwhile, finds that while investments in oil and gas are down, capital flowing toward renewables is at record highs. The Scottish climate secretary said that, when it comes to advancing low-carbon alternatives, more progress can be made. New goals for 2020, she added, are imminent.

"We are not complacent and we will continue to take action and encourage others to do their bit to tackle climate change," she said.