text: The Earth experienced its hottest month of March since record-keeping began in 1880. There's been no break from the globe's record heat - the first three months of 2015 have all set new high temperature marks. Last month's average temperature soared to 56.4°F (13.6°C), which is 1.5°F (0.85°C) above the average for the 20th century. Last month's average temperature of 56.4°F (13.6°C) was the hottest March on record, averaging 1.5°F (0.85°C) above the average for the 20th century. This was the highest for March in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.09°F (0.05°C). Pictured is how the high temperatures affected different regions of the world . The data, released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) takes into account global averages across land and sea surfaces. It follows earlier announcements from US government scientists that 2014 was the hottest year in modern history. Scientists warn that fossil fuel burning is pushing more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, leading to increased temperatures, melting of polar ice and glaciers, and rising seas. 'This was the highest for March in the 1880-2015 record, surpassing the previous record of 2010 by 0.09°F (0.05°C),' said the report. The warmth was spread fairly evenly across the hemispheres. Most land areas were warmer to much warmer than average, as shown by the Temperature Percentiles map on the right, with record warmth in parts of the western United States and Canada, various regions in eastern Africa, parts of Scandinavia and northwestern Russia, part of south central China, and an area of northeastern Australia . NOAA scientist Jessica Blunden blames the heat on El Niño and climate change. El Niño is caused by a shift in the distribution of warm water in the Pacific Ocean. Usually the wind blows strongly from east to west, due to the rotation of the Earth, causing water to pile up in the western part of the Pacific. This pulls up colder water from the deep ocean in the eastern Pacific. However, in an El Niño, the winds pushing the water get weaker and cause the warmer water to shift back towards the east. This causes the eastern Pacific to get warmer. But as the ocean temperature is linked to the wind currents, this causes the winds to grow weaker still and so the ocean grows warmer, meaning the El Niño grows. This change in air and ocean currents around the equator can have a major impact on the weather patterns around the globe by creating pressure anomalies in the atmosphere. Last month, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts that there is now a 50 to 60 per cent chance El Niño will continue through the summer. For the first three months of the year, the average temperature worldwide was 1.48°F (0.82°C) above the 20th-century average. That marked the highest ever recorded for that period, surpassing the previous record in 2002 by 0.09°F (0.05°C). Also of concern was the finding that Arctic sea ice was the lowest on record for March. 'The average Arctic sea ice extent for March was 430,000 square miles (7.2 percent) below the 1981–2010 average,' said the report. 'This was the smallest March extent since records began in 1979.' NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden said 2015 probably will break 2014's hottest year mark if conditions persist. The first three months of 2015 were nearly a tenth of a degree higher than the old record and four-tenths of a degree warmer than January through March of last year. Much of the most abnormal heat has been in the Pacific Ocean and places near it. Seven western U.S. states set records for their hottest first three months of the year, while New York and Vermont set records for the coldest start of a year. The northeastern United States has been one of the few colder-than-normal spots on the globe with entire continents of Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia coming in solidly warmer than normal. Blunden blames the record heat on a combination of El Niño, a blob of record hot water in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and human-caused climate change. Last month, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts that there is now a 50 to 60 per cent chance El Niño will continue through the summer. Some meteorologists, however, have warned that this El Niño could combine with another slow movement of water temperature in the Pacific Ocean called the Pacific Decadal Osciallation (PDO). The PDO reached record levels in December last year and January this year, and should it stay strong, it may combine with El Niño to increase global temperatures. The maps below represent rainfall per cent of normal (left, using a base period of 1961–1990) and precipitation (right, using the period of record). As is typical, precipitation anomalies during March 2015 varied significantly around the world . Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Centre, said: 'Based on the persistent observations of above-average sea surface temperatures across the western and central equatorial Pacific Ocean and consistent pattern of sea level pressure, we can now say that El Niño is here. 'Many climate prediction models show this weak El Niño continuing into summer.' The arrival of this El Niño is considered to be late after scientists last year predicted they were expecting one last year, but the conditions failed to materialise. El Niño is one of the most powerful climate altering phenonoma on the planet. It is the result of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which is the cycle of warm and cold water across the Pacific Ocean. This cycle occurs at intervals of between two to seven years and can last for nine months to two years. When the ocean is warmer than average for seven to nine months, the NOAA officially classes it as El Niño conditions. Record warm temperatures continued to dominate in the northeast Pacific Ocean and were also notable in the southwest Pacific and parts of the Arctic Seas to the north and northwest of Scandinavia. This graph shos the March average surface temperatures on ocean and land .
target: World experience average temperatures of 56.4°F (13.6°C) last month - 1.5°F above average for the 20th century .
  First 3 months of 2015 have set new high temperature marks, and the trend could continue throughout the year .
  Scientists warn fossil fuels are pushing greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, leading to increased temperatures .
  But El Niño, a blob of record hot water in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, could also be driving up temperatures .