2016 could be hottest year on record

April 2016 was the hottest month the world has ever seen.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says April was the seventh month in a row to have temperatures over 1 degree Celsius above the 1951-1980 average.

It broke the previous record by 0.24 degrees Celsius.

The NASA map below shows the world's record high temperatures from 65 years ago:

Below, is another NASA map, showing the temperatures in April 2016:

NASA says the probability of 2016 being the hottest year on record now seems very likely.

US-based climate scientist Gavin Schmidt agrees with NASA.

University of Reading climate scientist Ed Hawkings tweeted an animation showing how temperatures rose from 1850 to 2016:

Why is this happenning?

This is the big question. A number of factors to consider, but the main reasons include, but are not limited to:

• Carbon dioxide emissions from the industrial sector
• Carbon emissions from transportation

• Methane emissions from animals

• Burning and removing of vegetation

• Excessive farming and increased usage of chemical fertilisers

Social media reaction: