March 2024 Confirmed as Hottest on Record, Renewing Urgent Calls for Emissions Reduction

The Hottest March on Record

March 2024 has been confirmed as the hottest March on record by scientists, marking the 10th consecutive month of record-breaking temperatures. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported that March was 1.68 degrees Celsius (3.02 Fahrenheit) hotter than the average March between 1850 and 1900, a pre-industrial reference period. This surpasses the previous high logged in March 2016 by 0.1 degrees Celsius.

Renewed Calls for Urgent Action

Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, stated, "The global average temperature is the highest on record, with the past 12 months being 1.58°C above pre-industrial levels. Stopping further warming requires rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions." This confirmation has renewed calls for urgent reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Impact of Climate Change

Chloe Brimicombe, a climate researcher at Austria's University of Graz, emphasized the impact of climate change on extreme heatwaves, storms, flooding, and below-average snowfall in Central Europe, as well as the potential loss of over half of alpine glaciers in Europe by the end of the century. She warned of the potential consequences, stating, "It could be one very long hot summer and not in a good way."

Jonathan Bamber, director of the Bristol Glaciology Centre at the U.K.'s University of Bristol, expressed concern about the pace and rate of climate breakdown, highlighting the stronger feedbacks in the climate system than the models predict. He noted that the data witnessed in 2024 are disturbing and indicative of a concerning trend.

United Nations' Weather Agency Report

The United Nations' weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization, confirmed 2023 as the hottest year on record. The global average temperature in 2023 stood at 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, reflecting the hottest 10-year period on record from 2014 to 2023. These findings have raised red flags about the alarming pace of climate change, as outlined in the landmark Paris Agreement. The report has underlined the need for urgent and effective measures to combat climate change and its adverse impacts.