From: Andy Soos, ENN
Published April 15, 2010 04:18 PM
March Global Temperatures
How hot is it? It depends, of course, on where you are. From a global
perspective there are agencies that check and recheck and average it all
out.
The world’s combined global land and ocean surface temperature made last
month the warmest March on record, according to National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Taken separately, average ocean
temperatures were the warmest for any March and the global land surface
was the fourth warmest for any March on record. Additionally, the planet
has seen the fourth warmest January — March period on record.
It continues to get warmer in the world. Some places may seem cooler
but the world is not.
The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for March
2010 was the warmest on record at 56.3°F, which is 1.39°F above the 20th
century average of 54.9°F.
The world ocean surface temperature was the highest for any March on
record -1.01°F above the 20th century average of 60.7°F.
The global land surface temperature was 2.45°F above the 20th century
average of 40.8 °F — the fourth warmest on record. Warmer than normal
conditions dominated the globe, especially in northern Africa, South
Asia and Canada. Cooler than normal regions included Mongolia and
eastern Russia, northern and western Europe, Mexico, northern Australia,
western Alaska and the southeastern United States.
For the year to date, the combined global land- and ocean surface
temperature of 55.3°F (13.0°C) was the fourth warmest for a
January-March period. This value is 1.19°F above the 20th century
average.
According to the Beijing Climate Center, Tibet experienced its second
warmest March since historical records began in 1951. Delhi, India also
had its second warmest March since records began in 1901, according to
the India Meteorological Department.
When it gets warmer the pole ice tends to melt. Arctic sea ice covered
an average of 5.8 million square miles during March. This is 4.1 percent
below the 1979-2000 average expanse, and the fifth smallest March
coverage since records began in 1979.
On the other end of the world in Antarctic, sea ice expanse in March was
6.9 percent below the 1979-2000 average, resulting in the eighth
smallest March ice coverage on record.
In the US, the temperature averaged across the contiguous U.S. was above
normal. Several storms developed along the Atlantic Coast, bringing
below normal temperatures to the South and Southeast, while bringing
warm and wet weather to the Northeast and East North Central regions.
On a statewide level, Rhode Island had its warmest March on record. It
was Maine's second warmest March, New Hampshire's third warmest, and the
fifth warmest for Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Vermont, and
Minnesota. Five other states (for a total of thirteen) also had a March
average temperature among their ten warmest.
For further information:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100415_marchstats.html
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