March, first quarter warmest on record: NOAA

Both last month and the first quarter of this year were the warmest since record keeping began in 1880, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Friday.

During March, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit (0.85 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average, according to a monthly report released by the NOAA.

"This was the highest for March in the 1880-2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit (0.05 degrees Celsius)," the report said.

For the first quarter of 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was at 1.48 degrees Fahrenheit (0. 82 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average, surpassing the previous record of 2002 by 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit (0.05 degrees Celsius).

One result from this year's record warmth was that arctic sea ice extent was the smallest for the month of March since records began in 1979, 7.2 percent below the 1981-2010 average.

For the land, record warmth was observed in parts of the western United States and Canada, various regions in eastern Africa, parts of Scandinavia and northwestern Russia, part of south central China, and an area of northeastern Australia.

Central India, southeastern Mauritania, central Mexico, and eastern Canada were cooler than average, while part of northeastern Canada was much cooler than average, with the region observing temperatures at least 5 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) below average. Endite