WELLINGTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A veteran climate scientist said on Thursday that 2018 is the warmest year in New Zealand since records began more than 150 years ago.

Climate scientist Jim Salinger has calculated the mean annual land surface temperature in 2018 was 13.5 degrees Celsius, 0.85 degrees Celsius above the 1981-2010 average.

Salinger said January, March, July and December were all at least 1 degree Celsius above normal, with January being massive 3.2 degrees Celsius above average, the hottest month ever.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) said on Thursday that 2018 was a very warm year for New Zealand, but has not been confirmed as the warmest on record. As it stands now, 2016 remains the country's warmest year.

The final figure will be released next Tuesday at NIWA's 2018 Annual Climate Summary conference in Auckland.

Salinger said overall, the country has heated up by 1.3 degrees Celsius since records began in 1867, calling for efforts to stop heat-producing greenhouse gases building up in the atmosphere.

The Southern Alps in New Zealand have lost 40 percent of their permanent ice since scientists began measuring it in 1962, of which 9 percent melted during last summer's heatwave, he said.