March 2016 was the hottest March in the 137–year record, with the globally averaged temperature across land and ocean surfaces 1.22 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 12.7 degrees, according to new data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “This surpassed the previous record set in 2015 by 0.32°C / (0.58°F), and marks the highest monthly temperature departure among all 1,635 months on record, surpassing the previous all-time record set just last month by 0.01°C (0.02°F),” according to NOAA’s March 2016 Global Analysis.
This is the 11th consecutive month in which a monthly global temperature record has been broken, the analysis says, noting that it is the longest such streak on record.
A strong El Niño had been noted as a contributing factor in several of the previous months’ records, though it may have played less of a role in March. “El Niño conditions weakened considerably in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean during March. However, the March globally averaged sea surface temperature remained 0.81°C (1.46°F) above the 20th century monthly average, similar to February,” according to the analysis.
