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March sets records for non-El Nino period

The world has experienced its hottest March outside an El Nino event, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The average global temperature last month was 1.05 degrees above the 20th-century average of 12.72 degrees.

This was just 0.18 degrees behind last year’s record temperature, which happened during an El Nino period, when temperatures tend to spike.

“March 2017 marks the first time since April 2016 that the global land and ocean temperature departure from average was greater than 1 degree,” the NOAA said.

It was the first time the monthly departure from average surpassed 1 degree in the absence of an El Nino in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

The NOAA expects the global warm trend to last well into the year, with increasing chances of El Nino arriving later this year.

Last month’s global average sea surface temperature was 16.65 degrees, 0.17 degrees above the 20th-century monthly average, and the second-highest on record.

The global average land surface temperature was 1.98 degrees above the 20th-century average of 4.89 degrees.

The year-to-date average temperature is 0.97 degrees above the 20th-century average of 12.28 degrees, the second-highest in 138 years of record-keeping.

Europe and Oceania had their second-warmest March on record, Asia its fourth, Africa its seventh, South America its 12th and North America its 30th.

“The most notable warm temperature departures from the 1981-2010 average were recorded across the contiguous US, Europe, Russia, Mongolia and Australia, where temperature departures were plus 3 degrees or greater,” the NOAA said.