March Marks The Hottest Month Breaking Previous Records
The world witnessed the hottest March on record, marking the 10th month of historic heat. As per Europe”s climate monitoring agency, the sea surface temperature also hit a new record.
According to European Union”s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), March averaged around 14.14 degree Celsius (57.9 Fahrenheit). The new record exceeded the previous record from 2016 by a 10 of a degree. It is also noted that March 2024 was 1.68 C hotter than an average March between the year 1850 – 1900, which is the reference period for the pre-industrial era.
C3S said the major reason for the extreme heat was the green house gas emission caused by human activities. 2023 was the hottest year in global record since 1850.
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of C3S, said, “seeing records like this month in and month out really shows us that our climate is changing rapidly”.
Though the temperature does not mean the 1.5C (2.7 Fahrenheit) agreed on by the world leaders in Paris during 2015 has been breached, “we are extraordinarily close and already on borrowed time”, said Burgess.
The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that the world will most likely breach the 1.5C in the early 2030s. It is to note that the Target is measured in decades rather than individual years.
The ocean surface temperature also set a new record during March. The global sea temperature has averaged around 21.07 C (69.93F) during March, which is the highest level recorded so far, said C3S.
Jennifer Francis, the scientist of Woodwell Climate Research Centre told AFP that, “the trajectory will not change until concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop rising… which means we must stop burning fossil fuels, stop deforestation, and grow our food more sustainably as quickly as possible”.
