Markey: March Was Warmest on Record

In Like a Lion, But No Need for Lamb’s Wool Sweater…

Data released today by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that March of 2010 was the hottest on record for that month. This follows 2009 being the 5th warmest year on record, and the last decade being the warmest decade in recorded temperature history.

“March came in like a lion, but last month there was no need for a lamb’s wool sweater,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming an co-author of the House-passed Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill. “Snowstorms in February led some to question the reality of global warming. Record-breaking March temperatures should send them back to the data tables.”

March’s weather is just one data point among the many showing a warming Earth and United States. In the U.S., spring arrives 10 to 14 days earlier on average than it did just 20 years ago, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. And in the United States, daily high temperatures were broken twice as often as daily lows over the last decade.

“Direct thermometer measurements and satellite records show upward temperature trends over the last decades as heat-trapping pollution has increased in the atmosphere,” continued Rep. Markey. “Warm breezes and early spring flowers mask the serious consequences of rising global temperatures if we do not act soon to reduce the dangerous build-up of carbon pollution. That is why it is so vital that America and the world take serious action to cut heat-trapping pollution. We must show leadership by passing a bill through Congress this year.”

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