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India
Europe just lived through its hottest March in recorded history — by a shocking margin. And the rest of the planet wasn’t far behind.
According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the month of March continued a staggering streak of unusually high global temperatures that began in mid-2023 — a heatwave that scientists are struggling to fully make sense of. For Europe, the data was unequivocal: not only was this March the warmest on record, but the gap between this year and the previous record in 2014 was unusually wide.
It wasn’t just about the heat. Across the continent, weather turned chaotic — from punishing drought in one region to flash floods in another. Samantha Burgess of the Copernicus climate service summed it up clearly: “Some areas had their driest March ever, others their wettest in half a century.”
“We’re firmly in the grip of human-caused climate change.”
Since July 2023, nearly every single month has crossed the critical 1.5°C warming threshold compared to pre-industrial levels — a benchmark that world leaders had hoped to avoid. But March took it further, registering a whopping 1.6°C above those baseline levels.
“That we’re still at 1.6°C is truly remarkable,” said Dr. Friederike Otto from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change. “We’re firmly in the grip of human-caused climate change.”
It’s a grip that refuses to loosen — even though El Niño, a natural warming phase in the Pacific Ocean, has already passed its peak. Scientists had expected global temperatures to ease off slightly. Instead, they’re hanging on stubbornly. “We’re still seeing extreme global heat. It’s an exceptional situation,” said Robert Vautard, a senior climate expert with the UN’s IPCC.
A World Off-Balance
This climate instability isn’t just theoretical — it’s becoming terrifyingly real. In Argentina, 16 people lost their lives after extreme rainfall triggered deadly floods. Central Asia faced a scorching heatwave in March — a time when most regions should be shaking off winter chill.
Climate change, experts say, is no longer just about the heat. It’s about what that heat unleashes: violent storms, rising seas, parched farmlands, and unstable seasons. Warmer oceans mean more moisture in the air — and when that falls, it doesn’t trickle. It crashes down.
“There’s a dangerous imbalance now,” warned Professor Bill McGuire of University College London. “A destabilised climate means more — and more intense — extremes.”
Is 1.5°C Slipping Away?
In 2024, the world crossed the 1.5°C threshold for the entire calendar year — something that’s never happened before. While a single-year breach doesn’t mean we’ve lost the Paris Agreement goals, the trajectory is worrying.
If current trends continue, scientists believe we could permanently hit 1.5°C by June 2030 — just five years from now.
So what’s causing this supercharged warming? The usual suspect — fossil fuels — remains front and center. But researchers are also investigating other possible contributors: changes in cloud cover, air pollution, and the weakening ability of forests and oceans to absorb carbon dioxide.
“We’re seeing things that are still not fully explained,” said Vautard. “But it’s still within the range of what we’ve feared could happen.”
“The warmest Earth has been in 125,000 years”
Copernicus uses a network of satellites, ships, aircraft, and land-based weather stations to piece together its data. Though its formal records begin in 1940, scientists compare current trends with ancient climate evidence — like tree rings and polar ice layers — to put today’s changes in context.
Scientists say it’s likely we are now living through the warmest period the Earth has seen in 125,000 years.
