Evidence of global climate change continued to accumulate in March. It was yet another warmer than average month across the planet. In fact, the global land surface temperature during March was the warmest on record. It was 3.3 degrees above the 20^th century average of 40.8 degrees. When considering the temperature of the surface of the ocean in addition to the land surface temperature, March was the second warmest on record.

The average temperature across the contiguous was actually 0.4 degrees below average. But, it was 8 degrees above average across the Asian continent.

In January, parts of Europe and Asia were blanketed by their greatest snow cover on record. Then, the unusually warm March temperatures led to rapid snow melt. This resulted in the lowest March snow cover on record.

The average snow cover this winter across the was above normal. However, the total Northern Hemisphere snow cover was the 4^th lowest on record for March. This is part of a trend that has been ongoing for the last 20 years.

Looked at individually, above normal temperatures during any one month don’t tell us anything about global temperatures trends. However, this past March’s conditions fit in with the trend of recent months and years. A majority of the warmest months and years on record have occurred during the past 20 years.