Climate Change

		Departure of temperature from average for last month (updated by the 17th of each month) from the National Climatic Data Center.
		Average March arctic sea ice coverage as observed by satellites between 1979 and 2008. Image credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

March 2008 was the 2nd warmest March for the the globe on record, according to statistics released by the National Climatic Data Center. Over the Northern Hemisphere, and over all of the globe's land areas, March 2008 was the warmest March in the 128-year global record. Only the presence of a moderately strong Laña event that cooled ocean waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific prevented March 2008 from surpassing March 2002 as the warmest March on record for the entire globe. For the contiguous U.S., March 2008 was pretty unremarkable. Temperatures were 0.4°F (0.2°C) below average, making March 2008 the 52nd coolest March since U.S. weather records began in 1895. It was the 35st wettest March, with Missouri having its second wettest March on record.

March 2008 Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent was the sixth lowest on record for the month of March, 8% below its extent in 1979 when satellite measurements began, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. March was the fourth straight month that a new monthly minimum Arctic sea ice record was not set, following a string of five months in a row where monthly records were set. However, while the ice extent is not at a record low this month, the volume of the arctic ice is probably at a record low for March. The ice is exceptionally thin across the Arctic this winter, and the edge of this thin first-year ice extends beyond the North Pole.