‘On borrowed time’: World marks new global heat record in March
Al Jazeera
European climate agency says ocean surface temperature also reached new record raising risk of extreme weather.
The world just experienced its warmest March on record, the 10th straight month of historic heat, as sea surface temperatures also hit a new high, according to Europe’s climate monitoring agency.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Tuesday that March averaged 14.14 degrees Celsius (57.9 degrees Fahrenheit), exceeding the previous record from 2016 by a 10th of a degree. The month was also 1.68C (35F) hotter than an average March between the years 1850-1900, the reference period for the pre-industrial era.
Vast tracts of the planet from parts of Africa to Greenland and South America to Antarctica endured above-average temperatures during the month.
It was not only the 10th consecutive month to break its own heat record but also marked the hottest 12-month period ever recorded – 1.58C (34.8F) above pre-industrial averages.
The primary cause of the heat was greenhouse gas emissions fuelled by human activity, C3S said.
