Second Warmest March since 1880
Posted by feww on April 19, 2017
State of the Climate: Global Climate Report – March 2017
March 2017 was the second warmest since global temperature records began in 1880, with the average temperature (combined global land and SST) rising 1.05°C (1.89°F) above the 20th century average of 12.7°C (54.9°F).
- Record March 2016 temperature was 0.18°C (0.32°F) higher.
- March 2017 marks the first time since April 2016 that the global land and ocean temperature departure from average was greater than 1.0°C (1.8°F).
Land – March 2017
Global land temperature during January–March 2017 was also the second highest on record at 1.75°C (3.15°F) above the 20th century average of 3.7°C (38.5°F). Record March 2016 was warmer by 0.31°C (0.56°F).
SST
SST in March 2017 was 0.71°C (1.28°F) above the 20th century average of 15.9°C (60.7°F). This was the second highest March in the 138-year record, behind 2016 by 0.10°C (0.18°F) and ahead of 2015 by +0.08°C (0.14°F).
Q1 -2017
Land and SST temperature for Q1 (January–March) was 0.97°C (1.75°F) above the 20th century average of 12.3°C (54.1°F)—the second highest such period in the 138-year record. This value trails behind the record year set in 2016 by 0.18°C (0.32°F).
Land temperature for the same period was also the second highest on record at 1.75°C (3.15°F) above the 20th century average of 3.7°C (38.5°F). This value was behind the record warm 2016 by 0.31°C (0.56°F).
SST for the period was 0.68°C (1.22°F) above the 20th century average of 15.9°C (60.6°F)—also the second highest in the 138–year record, behind 2016 by 0.14°C (0.25°F).
Arctic Sea Ice Extent
March 2017 sea ice extent was 7.5 percent below the 1981-2010 average—the smallest March ice cover since satellite records began in 1979.
Antarctic Sea Ice Extent
March 2017 sea ice extent was 34.2 percent below the 1981-2010 average—the smallest March ice cover on record.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: Global Climate Report for March 2017, published online April 2017, retrieved on April 19, 2017 from https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201703.
Fire Earth 
Sandy H. said
Globe had 2nd warmest April and year to date on record
Last month also saw record-low Arctic, near-record-low Antarctic sea ice
The combined global average temperature over the land and ocean surfaces for April 2017 was 0.90°C (1.62°F) above the 20th century average of 13.7°C (56.7°F)—the second highest April temperature since global records began in 1880, trailing 2016 by 0.17°C (0.31°F) and ahead of 2010 by 0.0.7°C (0.13°F). April 2017 also marks the 388th consecutive month that the globally-averaged temperature across the world’s land and ocean surfaces was nominally above the 20th century average. December 1984 was the last time a monthly temperature was below average at -0.09°C (-0.16°F). Overall, April 2017 tied with March 2015, August 2016, and January 2017 as the 12th highest monthly global land and ocean temperature departure from average on record (1,648 monthly records).
The average global temperatures across land surfaces was 1.37°C (2.47°F) above the 20th century average of 8.1°C (46.5°F)—tying with 2000 and 2010 as the fourth highest April temperature in the 138-year record, behind 2016 (1.87°C / 3.37°F), 2007 (1.52°C / 2.74°F), and 2012 (1.50°C / 2.70°F).
Overall, the global sea surface temperature for April 2017 was 0.73°C (1.31°F) above the 20th century average of 16.0°C (60.9°F) and the second highest April temperature since records began in 1880. This value is 0.05°C (0.09°F) less than the record year set in 2016, but 0.07°C (0.13°F) higher than 2015.
The global land and ocean surface temperature during January–April 2017 was 0.95°C (1.71°F) above the 20th century average of 12.6°C (54.8°F). This was the second highest such period since records began in 1880, behind 2016 by 0.19°C (0.34°F) and ahead of 2015 by 0.10°C (0.18°F).
The year-to-date global land surface temperature was also the second highest on record at 1.64°C (2.95°F) above average. This value is 0.39°C (0.70°F) less than the record January–April 2016, but 0.18°C (0.32°F) higher than the now third warmest such period set in 2015. The average global ocean surface temperature for the year-to-date was also second highest in the 138-year record at 0.70°C (1.26°F), behind 2016 by 0.11°C (0.20°F) and 0.08°C (0.14°F) higher than 2015
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: Global Climate Report for April 2017, published online May 2017, retrieved on May 18, 2017 from https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201704.