By Anders Lorenzen

Data from the European Union (EU) shows that the world has just experienced its warmest March on record, capping a 10-month period in which every month set a new temperature record. This is according to the EU’s climate change monitoring service.

The data presents clear evidence about the warming trend. The EU`s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that each of the last 10 months ranked as the world’s hottest on record, compared with the corresponding month in previous years. 

In addition, the 12 months ending with March also ranked as the planet’s hottest-ever recorded 12-month period, C3S said. From April 2023 to March 2024, the global average temperature was 1.58 degrees Celsius above the average in the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.

Exceptional records

About the findings, C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said: “It’s the long-term trend with exceptional records that has us very concerned. Seeing records like this – month in, month out – really shows us that our climate is changing, and is changing rapidly.” 

The dataset goes back to the 1940s and scientists have been cross-checking with other data in order to arrive at the conclusion that this was the hottest March ever experienced. 

The record-breaking temperatures have resulted in an avalanche of extreme weather events which continue to increase in frequency and severity across the globe. Some of the most severe events this year include a drought in the Amazon rainforest, resulting in a record number of wildfires in Venezuela between January and March, and a drought in southern Africa that has wiped out crops and left millions facing hunger. Last month, marine scientists warned that a mass coral bleaching event is likely to be unfolding in the southern hemisphere, driven by warming waters, and could be the worst in the planet’s history.

Many might think it is obvious, but nevertheless, C3S confirmed that the prime reason the world keeps setting new temperature records is human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, from the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial activities.

Earlier this year we reported that C3S data confirmed 2023 as the warmest year ever recorded since records began in the 1850’s.