Global heat records smashed in first half of 2015

Earth dialled the heat up last month, smashing warm temperature records for both the month and the first half of the year.

A scientific agency with the U.S. government calculated that world's average temperature in June hit 16.33 Celsius (61.48 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking the old record set last year by 0.12 degrees Celsius (0.22 degrees Fahrenheit).

• 2014 was hottest year in modern record

• Hottest year on global record was Canada's coolest in 18 years

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientist Jessica Blunden said usually temperature records are broken by one or two one-hundredths of a degree, not nearly a quarter of a degree. Records go back 136 years.

The first six months of 2015 were one-sixth of a degree warmer than the old record, set in 2010, averaging 14.35 Celsius (57.83 degrees Fahrenheit).

Blunden said that 2015 is likely to be the warmest year on record.

That would break the new global heat record set in 2014.