Global land and ocean surface temperatures for the month averaged 0.95 degrees Celsius above the 20th-century mark of 12.7 degrees Celsius, the agency said, based on data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The information highlighted that this also represented the 46th consecutive March with temperatures above the average of the last century, and when evaluating the behavior by regions, Oceania had its fourth warmest March on record, Asia the ninth, while the Americas, Europe and Africa filed temperatures above average.

Scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information noted that the year so far ranks as the fifth hottest globally since 1880.

Other notable weather events at the close of March are sparse sea ice at the poles, with Antarctica’s extent only 1.09 million square miles, the second smallest for March in the 44-year record.

It was a busy month for the tropics: Nine tropical storms formed globally, which tied for the second-most in March, NOAA stressed.

International experts warn that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and they agree that limiting the increase in global temperature to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius would help avoid the worst impacts.

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