March 2026 was the hottest March in 132 years of US record-keeping, according to NOAA data released this week [1]. The contiguous United States averaged 7.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1991-2020 baseline — or 9.35 degrees above the 20th century average. More than 12,000 daily record highs were set. Ten states recorded their warmest March ever. Thirty-eight percent of the contiguous US experienced record warmest conditions for the month.

Yuma, Arizona, hit 109 degrees Fahrenheit, setting a new national March temperature record [2]. Phoenix ran 12.5 degrees above normal for the month. A total of 2,596 monthly temperature records were broken across the country. A Super El Nino is forecast for the coming year, which would layer additional warming onto an already anomalous baseline.

The story was largely buried by Iran war coverage. No major US outlet gave it front-page treatment on the day of release. NOAA published the data; UPI wrote it up; climate-focused accounts on X amplified it. But the story competed with ceasefire diplomacy, gas prices, and Coachella for attention — and lost. The asymmetry is notable. A 132-year temperature record affects every American. The war, however immediate, does not. Yet the war dominates every front page while the climate data slides into the back pages, if it appears at all.

-- KENJI NAKAMURA, Tokyo