WASHINGTON — Earth’s record monthly heat streak has hit 11 months in a row — a record in itself.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that March’s average global temperature of 54.9 degrees was not only the hottest March but continues a record streak that started last May.
According to NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden, the 11 heat records in a row smashes a streak of 10 set in 1944. Climate scientists say this is a result of El Niño, along with relentless, man-made global warming.
Blunden and Michael Mann at Penn State University worry that people will be desensitized to the drumbeat of broken records and will not realize the real effect they have on weather — for example, massive changes in what is supposed to be winter in the Arctic. Greenland had a record early start for its ice sheet melting.
“It’s becoming monotonous in a way,” said Jason Furtado, a meteor ology professor at the University of Oklahoma.
