Click here to read the assessment. Here’s an excerpt:
Globe had second warmest April and year to date on record
The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for April 2017 was the second highest for the month of April in the NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880. The year-to-date global temperature was also second warmest on record.
This monthly summary is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides to government, business, academia, and the public to support informed decision-making.
April Temperature
The April temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62°F above the 20th century average of 56.7°F. This was the second highest for April in the 138-year period of record, behind 2016 by 0.31°F. The April globally averaged land surface temperature was 2.47°F above the 20th century average of 46.5°F. This value tied with 2000 and 2010 as the fourth highest April land global temperature in the 1880–2017 record. The April globally averaged sea surface temperature was 1.31°F above the 20th century monthly average of 60.9°F. This was the second highest global ocean temperature for April in the record, behind the record year 2016 by 0.09°F. April Snow Cover and Sea Ice
According to data from NOAA analyzed by the Rutgers Global Snow Lab (link is external), the Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during April was 3.1 percent above the 1981–2010 average. This was the largest April snow cover extent since 2013 and the 16th largest value in the 51-year period of record. The North American and Eurasian snow cover extent were each the 21st largest on record. The average Arctic sea ice extent for April was 394,000 square miles (6.9 percent) below the 1981–2010 average. This tied with April 2016 as the smallest April sea ice extent since records began in 1979, according to an analysis by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (link is external) based on data from NOAA and NASA. The Antarctic sea ice extent for April was 520,000 square miles (18.2 percent) below the 1981–2010 average. This was the second smallest April Antarctic sea ice extent since records began in 1979 and 50,000 square miles larger than the record smallest extent set in 1980. This ended a five consecutive-month streak of record low sea ice extent in the Antarctic that started in November 2016.
