Another record month

March 2024 warmer worldwide than any previous month

For the tenth time in a row, a month has turned out to be the warmest compared to the respective months of the previous year. According to data from the EU climate change service Copernicus, March was also warmer worldwide than any previous March since records began.

"March 2024 continues the series of climate records being broken for both air and sea surface temperatures, with the tenth consecutive record-breaking month," said Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess.

March 2016 previously led the rankings
The air temperature at the Earth's surface averaged 14.14 degrees in March, the service announced on Tuesday. This was 0.73 degrees higher than the average for the reference period from 1991 to 2020 and 0.10 degrees higher than the warmest March measured to date in 2016.

March 2024 continues the series of climate records being broken for both air and sea surface temperatures, with the tenth record month in a row.

Copernicus-Vizedirektorin Samantha Burgess

Compared to the period 1850 to 1900, the pre-industrial reference period, the month was 1.68 degrees warmer, it added. The global average temperature for the past twelve months (April 2023 to March 2024) is the highest since records began and is 1.58 degrees above the pre-industrial average. However, this does not yet mean that the Paris 1.5-degree target has been missed, as longer-term averages are used for this purpose.

Billions of data collected
The European Union's Copernicus climate service regularly publishes data on the Earth's surface temperature, sea ice cover and precipitation. The findings are based on computer-generated analyses that incorporate billions of measurements from satellites, ships, airplanes and weather stations around the world. The data used dates back to 1950, with some earlier data also available.