NOAA: March 2010 Hottest March on Record
21.04.2010 - Atmosphere & Space, Water & Oceans, Land & Geology, Ice & Snow, Bi-polar
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) monthly National Climatic Data Center analysis, which is based on records going back to 1880, shows March 2010 to be hottest March on record. Analysis suggests the record is due to a combined global land and ocean surface temperature rise. Even when taken separately, all elements from average ocean temperatures to global land surface temperatures have been on the rise.
This situation is also true at the poles. In the Northern Hemisphere, Arctic sea ice covered an average of 15.1 million square kilometers during March, 4.1% below the 1979-2000 average extent. While the sea ice cover typically reaches its maximum extent in March, this year’s coverage became the fifth smallest on record and the 17th consecutive below-average Arctic sea ice coverage.
The same has been observed on the other end of the globe. Antarctic sea ice extent in March 2010 remained 6.9% below the 1979-2000 average, making it the 8th smallest March ice coverage on record.
