Analysis by the National Climatic Data Center revealed that March 2011 was the 13th warmest on record since 1880. Temperatures in much of the U.S., Siberia, and Africa yielded land surface temperatures that were 1.49 deg F (0.83 deg C) warmer than the 20th Century average; Canada, China and Southeast Asia, and Australia were cooler than average. The average global ocean surface temperature was 0.65 deg F (0.36 deg C) above normal, but as La Niña continues to weaken, this number may actually increase.

This image plots the relative difference in the March 2011 land and ocean temperatures, compared to the 1971-2000 period. Temperatures that were warmer than that average are plotted as red areas, cooler areas are colored blue.

A clarification: The title of the image was changed from "Warm March Temperatures Created Warm Oceans and Record Sea Ice Loss" to "Warm March Temperatures Created Warm Oceans and Record Low Sea Ice" more accurately reflect the data findings. March 2011 was tied as having the lowest maximum Arctic sea ice extent on record, which means that when Arctic sea ice should be at its peak, it was much lower than normal this year. We apologize for the confusion.