Climate and environment updates: How planet's climate changed since first Earth Day

It has been an active start to the severe weather season. According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. tornado activity in March was more than twice the monthly average, with over 200 tornadoes recorded.

This trend continued through the first week of April, with more than 150 tornado reports across the South and Midwest during a devastating multi-day stretch of life-threatening weather conditions.

The report also highlighted notable temperature and precipitation trends nationwide in March. Last month, the average temperature of the contiguous U.S. was 46.9 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit above average. That ranked last month as the nation's sixth warmest March on record. Above-average to way above-average temperatures were observed across most of the Lower 48, except for parts of California and the Southeast.

Precipitation was below average across much of the Plains and South in March, which brought expanding and intensifying drought conditions to states like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Persistently dry conditions also kept a drought in place across much of the Carolinas, fueling the destructive wildfires that ravaged both states last month.

North Carolina experienced its driest March since 2016, and South Carolina has had its driest first three months of the year in nearly 40 years. The extremely dry conditions were a primary contributor to the rapid spread of the flames, which was exacerbated by the millions of downed trees in the region due to Hurricane Helene last fall. This created an abundance of dry fuel, allowing wildfires to explode in size. Drought conditions are likely to persist across the Carolinas through the end of the month.

According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report released on April 1, about 43.4% of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing drought.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Last month was the second-warmest March on record globally, according to new data analyzed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). And once again, the planet exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius, as established by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, coming in slightly above that at 1.6 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average (1850-1900).

Last month marked the 20th of the previous 21 months to exceed the warming threshold established in the Agreement. The 1.5-degree ceiling was established because scientists and international climate organizations say limiting global temperatures to that level significantly reduces the risks and impacts of climate change.

It is important to note that exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold temporarily is not seen as a failure to limit warming under the Agreement since it looks at the climate average over multiple decades. Still, the trend is concerning.

The planet may have fallen just short of breaking another global temperature record for March, but Europe soared to a new record. The March average temperature over that continent was 2.41 degrees Celsius, or 4.34 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 1991-2020 average for the month, making it the warmest March on record.

Globally, the average surface air temperature was 14.06 degrees Celsius, or 57.31 degrees Fahrenheit.

Global daily sea surface temperatures across most of the world’s oceans remain well above average, including across the Atlantic Basin. The report found that the average global sea surface temperature for March 2025 was 69.73 degrees Fahrenheit, the second-highest value on record for the month.

Unusually warm sea surface temperatures could once again play a major role in tropical cyclone development during the upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season, which begins on June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release its official outlook for the forthcoming season later next month.

Arctic sea ice extent dipped to its lowest value on record for the month of March at 6% below average. This was the fourth straight month with record-low ice cover for the corresponding month. Antarctic sea ice extent was 24% below average for the month, according to Copernicus.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Hurricanes Beryl, Helen and Milton were so deadly and destructive that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says it will never use those names again.

During the hurricane committee's annual meeting earlier this week, the group decided that names from the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will no longer be used for future tropical storms and hurricanes. Beryl, Helen and Milton join Katrina, Sandy, Maria and Harvey on the retired list.

The WMO's Hurricane Committee is responsible for the tropical cyclone name lists. It's the first time since 2020 that three names have been retired from the previous Atlantic Basin season. The list of names for tropical storms and hurricanes repeat every six years. In 2030, Beryl, Helene, and Milton will be replaced by Brianna, Holly and Miguel. Helene had been on the rotating list since 1958.

On July 2, Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin on record and significantly impacted several Caribbean Islands as it marched west as a major hurricane. The storm also affected Jamaica, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, and made a final landfall as a category one hurricane along the Texas Gulf Coast on July 8.

Helene became the deadliest continental U.S. hurricane since Katrina in 2005, killing more than 200 people after making landfall as the strongest hurricane on record to strike Florida's Big Bend region on Sept. 26. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates Helene caused nearly $79 billion in damages in the U.S.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm in western Florida on Oct. 9, affecting many of the same areas hit by Helene two weeks prior. Milton caused multiple storm-related fatalities and an estimated $34.3 billion in damages in the U.S.

The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1, with NOAA releasing its official outlook for the upcoming season next month.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Each year, visitors from across the U.S. and around the world flock to Washington, D.C., to view an iconic symbol of nature’s beauty -- the cherry blossoms that line the city’s Tidal Basin. The National Park Service announced on Friday that the cherry blossoms have reached peak bloom, which is when 70% of the Yoshino Cherry blossoms are open. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 1.5 million people come to experience the beautiful blooms each year during the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

2025 marks the 7th consecutive year that peak bloom has occurred earlier than the April 3 average. It’s also the 6th year in a row with a March peak bloom date.

Since 1921, peak bloom dates have shifted and are now about eight days earlier, on average, according to the EPA. Last year, the peak bloom date of March 17 tied for the second-earliest on record.

Human-amplified climate change is causing seasonal shifts, including milder, shorter winter seasons and spring warmth beginning earlier, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment. These shifts are contributing to the long-term change in peak bloom dates.

And it’s not just warming temperatures that are impacting the renowned annual event. Rising sea levels can impact the quality of the blooms and even the health of the cherry trees themselves. Over the last century, sea levels in the Washington area have risen by more than a foot, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. When the Tidal Basin floods, saltwater saturates the soil and can enter the roots of the cherry trees, which rely on dry land and fresh water. Too much saltwater intrusion in the soil can weaken and eventually kill a cherry tree, according to the NPS.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck