March 2015 was the warmest March globally since record-keeping began in 1880, according to latest US government measurements.
"The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for March 2015 was the highest for the month since record keeping began in 1880," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
During March, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 0.85 degree centigrade above the 20th century average. This was the highest for March in the 1880- 2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.05 degree centigrade, the NOAA said.
The first quarter of 2015 was the warmest first quarter on record in those same 136 years, the NOAA said.
During March, the globally-averaged land surface temperature was 1.65 degree centigrade above the 20th century average. This tied with 1990 as the second highest for March in the 1880-2015 record, it said.
During March, the globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 0.55 degree centigrade above the 20th century average. This was the third highest for March in the 1880-2015 record.
The average Arctic sea ice extent for March was 430,000 square miles (7.2 per cent) below the 1981-2010 average. This was the smallest March extent since records began in 1979, according to analysis by the National Snow and Ice Data Center based on data from NOAA and NASA.
Antarctic sea ice during March was 420,000 square miles (24.3 per cent) above the 1981-2010 average. This was the second largest March Antarctic sea ice extent on record.
The record largest March Antarctic sea ice extent occurred in 2008 and was 100,000 square miles larger than the March 2015 extent.
According to data from NOAA analysed by the Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during March was 640,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average. This was the seventh smallest March Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent in the 49-year period of record.
Eurasia had its ninth smallest March snow cover extent, while North America had its 10th smallest, the NOAA said.
