March 2010 was the warmest on record.

Getty Images/Tim Boyle

(AP) Last month was the warmest March on record worldwide, based on records dating back to 1880, U.S. scientists reported Thursday.   The average temperature for the month was 56.3 degrees Fahrenheit (13.5 degrees Celsius), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported.

That was 1.39 degrees F (0.77 C) above the average for the month over the 20th Century.   NOAA researchers said the warmer-than-normal conditions were especially notable in north Africa, South Asia, Tibet, Delhi, India and Canada.

Cooler-than-normal regions included Mongolia and eastern Russia, northern and western Europe, Mexico, northern Australia, western Alaska and the southeastern United States  [aka "The South" -- home of many deniers.]   ….

In addition, climate researchers have been reporting rising global temperatures for several years as a result of what is called the Greenhouse Effect, in which rising levels of carbon dioxide and others gases in the atmosphere trap heat instead of allowing it to escape out into space.

NOAA also reported that in March Arctic sea ice, which normally reaches its maximum on that month, covered an average of 5.8 million square miles (15.1 million square kilometers).    That was 4.1 percent below the 1979-2000 average expanse, and the fifth-smallest March coverage since records began in 1979.

What is the Obama administration doing about escalating climate change?  President Obama is basically leaving it up to others.  The EPA is slowly doing what they can, but it’s not enough to stop climate change, and the EPA is under the mistaken impression, along with Obama, that we can continue to use coal.  Today, Obama’s  chief of staff Rahm Emanuel met with environmental leaders for a half hour.

We expect more from this “science-driven” administration,  and promises are not enough.   From Greenwire:

“President Obama’s chief of staff summoned environmental leaders and other key administration allies to the White House today to discuss energy and climate legislation expected to be released in the Senate on Tuesday. Rahm Emanuel met for about 30 minutes with a group that included League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski, Sierra Club Chairman Carl Pope, Center for American Progress President John Podesta, Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp, Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke, National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger and Sheila O’Connell of Unity ‘09, a Democratic umbrella group.

Rahm Emanuel met for about 30 minutes with a group that included League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski, Sierra Club Chairman Carl Pope, Center for American Progress President John Podesta, Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp, Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke, National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger and Sheila O’Connell of Unity ‘09, a Democratic umbrella group.

The environmental groups are hopeful Obama will keep pushing Congress during this election year to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation amid several of his other top domestic agenda [...]