March Sets New Global Warming Record

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Via Joe Romm, NOAA reports a new record on the climate change front. Actually, we’ve set lots of new records recently, but most have been due to last year’s strong El Niño, which sent global temperatures skyrocketing. What about during a normal year with neither an El Niño nor a La Niña?

Well, the past couple of months have had neither. We have been “ENSO neutral,” in the jargon. And boy was it hot. According to NOAA, March 2017 marks “the first time a monthly temperature departure from average surpasses 1.0°C (1.8°F) in the absence of an El Niño episode in the tropical Pacific Ocean.”

Luckily for all of us, Donald Trump will soon defund NOAA’s climate research so we can pretend none of this is happening. I feel better already.