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that March 2010 was, globally, the hottest March in modern temperature records. Right? That is what George Will-Ful Deceit Will will discuss with his readers, providing a thoughtful discussion of how perhaps he has been feeding them truthiness and falsehoods, with the active complicity of Fred Hiatt and The Washington Post.

Yes, any moment now George Will will inform Washington Post readers that, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

The world’s combined global land and ocean surface temperature made last month the warmest March on record, according to NOAA. Taken separately, average ocean temperatures were the warmest for any March and the global land surface was the fourth warmest for any March on record. Additionally, the planet has seen the fourth warmest January – March period on record.

Well, March was hot.  Just how “hot” compared to the past?

The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for March 2010 was the warmest on record at 56.3°F (13.5°C), which is 1.39°F (0.77°C) above the 20th century average of 54.9°F (12.7°C).

Yes, March 2010 was 1.39 degrees F above the average March for the 20th century.

Well, when it comes to Will arguing that ice extent is greater, perhaps that (false) argument needs to be revisted.

• Arctic sea ice covered an average of 5.8 million square miles (15.1 million square kilometers) during March. This is 4.1 percent below the 1979-2000 average expanse, and the fifth-smallest March coverage since records began in 1979. Ice coverage traditionally reaches its maximum in March, and this was the 17th consecutive March with below-average Arctic sea ice coverage. .
• Antarctic sea ice expanse in March was 6.9 percent below the 1979-2000 average, resulting in the eighth smallest March ice coverage on record.

And, while Washington, DC, had snowmaggedon (and Vancouver, Canada, had shortages of snow for the Olympics) in January.

Many locations across Ontario, Canada received no snow, or traces of snow, in March, which set new low snowfall records,

Yes, George Will will look to the raft of scientific studies and reporting confirming that Global Warming is real and highlighting the warmth globally.

…

Yes, George Will, won’t he, under the pressure from Fred Hiatt and a truth-seeking Washington Post editorial board?

…

Sigh … we will wait in vein for that sort of truthful engagement.

PS:  Two places where George Will (won’t) start his homework for factual information. (Lots more exist, two at the tip of the tongue — so to speak.)

• National Wildlife Federation, Global Warming
• Scott Mandia, The complete guide to modern climate change: all the data you need to show that the globe is warming (this is perhaps the best single post that I have seen laying out the data)

UPDATE. Union of Concerned Scientists:

“The continuing warming trend of temperatures worldwide explodes the global cooling myth contrarians [like George Will] have been peddling for the past several years. While we can’t draw strong conclusions from a single month, we know that global warming will bring more record-breaking temperatures in the future. Hot months are just a harbinger of a future that could include more heat waves, more droughts, and species extinctions as animals attempt to migrate to colder areas and run out of habitat. The good news is that the degree to which global warming affects our economy and environment is ultimately up to us. If we significantly reduce emissions, we can avoid the worst effects of climate change.”

Temperature Anomolies, March 2010 (NOAA)