☀️ March Heat: US Endured Hottest March on Record as Experts Warned of 'Nonsurvivable' Heatwaves
- 'US Endured Hottest March on Record as Experts Warned of ‘Nonsurvivable’ Heatwaves
“Dangerous climate breakdown is already here, and killing people—now, today.” Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, April 9, 2026.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed Thursday that last month—which featured a heatwave that cooked the US West and caused a snow drought—was the hottest March in the 132-year record for the contiguous United States.
The average temperature “was 50.85°F, 9.35°F above the 20th-century average, marking the first time any month’s average has exceeded 9°F above that baseline,” according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. NCEI also said April 2025-March 2026 was the warmest 12-month span observed for the Lower 48 since recordkeeping began in 1895, and over half of the area had its hottest single March day on record, dating back to 1950.
Maximum daytime temperatures were especially high, averaging 11.4°F above the March average and 0.9°F above the April long-term average,” NCEI noted. “Ten states recorded their warmest March on record: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Across all of these states, average temperatures exceeded their respective April averages, with California also eclipsing its average May temperature by 0.7°F.”
In a social media thread about the findings, Shel Winkley, the senior engagement specialist and meteorologist at Climate Central, stressed that “our overheating planet played a major role.”
“Out of 192 cities analyzed by Climate Central, 111 experienced at least one week of heat made [more than two times] more likely by human-caused warming,” he noted. “The Southwest averaged 25 out of 31 days with heat made at least two times more likely.” The “most staggering” statistic, he said, is that “on March 20, 29% of the Lower 48 saw heat made [more than five times] more likely by our warming atmosphere. Put simply: Heat that would be virtually impossible without that fingerprint.”...
Read More, https://www.commondreams.org/news/march-heatwave
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- Also: 'Opportunistic’ Fossil Fuel Execs Cashed In on Trump’s Iran War With Record Stock Sales, April, 8, 2026.
One climate reporter warned their windfalls “will go toward political campaigns and lobbying organizations dedicated to fighting climate regulation, blocking clean energy policy, and fueling authoritarianism.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/oil-and-gas-iran