Heat alert! March 2024 warmest ever, 10th consecutive month to set new heat record
Heat alert: March 2024 was the warmest March ever, due to El Nino conditions and human-caused climate change. The European Union's climate agency stated on Tuesday that March is the tenth consecutive month since June of last year to set a new temperature record.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average temperature of 14.14 degrees Celsius in March was 1.68 degrees Celsius higher than the monthly average from 1850 to 1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period.
It was 0.73 degrees Celsius higher than the March average from 1991 to 2020, and 0.10 degrees higher than the previous high in March 2016.
"The global average temperature for the past 12 months is the highest recorded, at 0.70 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average and 1.58 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average," according to the climate agency.
Countries must limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C threshold
C3S reported that in January, the global average temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius for the first time in a full year.
However, a permanent breach of the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degrees Celsius limit implies long-term warming over many years.
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According to climate scientists, countries must limit global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Earth's global surface temperature has already increased by around 1.15 degrees Celsius compared to the average in 1850-1900. This level has not been seen since 1,25,000 years ago, before the most recent ice age. Global warming is blamed for record droughts, wildfires, and floods.
The rapid increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide and methane, is responsible for the rise in global average temperature.
2023 was the warmest year
Globally, 2023 was the warmest year in the 174-year observational record, with the global average near-surface temperature 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The warming could set a new record in 2024, according to scientists, because El Nino periodic warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean usually has the greatest impact on global climate in the second year of development.