March was tenth successive month for record-setting temperatures, despite heavy rain

It may not have felt like it during Ireland’s wet and windy March, but last month once again broke European and global temperature records.

For the tenth consecutive month, Europe and the world in March set a new monthly record for global heat — with both air temperatures and the world’s oceans hitting an all-time high for the month, the European Union climate agency Copernicus said.

The global monthly average temperature hit 14.14C, 1.68C warmer than during pre-industrial times, before the rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels and corresponding surge in greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have long warned that allowing global average temperatures to rise permanently by 1.5C above pre-industrial levels risks climate change escalating out of control. 

Since last June, the globe has broken heat records each month, with sporadic heat waves across large areas of the globe’s oceans contributing.

According to Copernicus, average temperatures across Europe diverged even more from previous norms than the global average did. The average European temperature in March was 2.12C above the average for the month over the 30 years from 1991 to 2020.

It was also recorded that western Europe was wetter than average, but the rest of the continent was drier than usual.