Global temperatures remained exceptionally high in March, continuing an unprecedented stretch of record-setting heat that scientists say is testing the limits of current climate understanding, according to a report released Tuesday by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
In Europe, March was the hottest ever recorded—by a wide margin—driving weather extremes across a continent already warming faster than any other. Globally, it was the second-warmest March in the Copernicus record, maintaining a near-unbroken streak of record or near-record temperatures that began in July 2023.
Since then, nearly every month has been at least 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial averages—a critical threshold outlined in the Paris Agreement. March continued this trend, registering 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels. The persistence and intensity of the heat are so unusual that scientists are still working to fully explain the phenomenon.
“That we’re still at 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels is indeed remarkable,” said Friederike Otto of Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute for Climate Change. “We’re very firmly in the grip of human-caused climate change.”
While the powerful El Niño event that peaked in early 2024 was expected to fade and bring some temperature relief, global heat levels have remained stubbornly high into 2025. “This is an exceptional situation,” said Robert Vautard, a senior scientist with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The Effects of an Overheating Planet
Scientists warn that even slight increases in global temperature can intensify extreme weather, including more frequent and severe heatwaves, flooding, and droughts. The extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane doesn’t just raise temperatures—it disrupts atmospheric and oceanic systems worldwide.
Warmer seas lead to more evaporation, fueling powerful storms and heavier rainfall. These shifts are already visible. According to Copernicus, March in Europe was 0.26°C hotter than the previous record set in 2014. Some regions saw their driest March in decades, while others experienced their wettest.
“These kinds of contrasting extremes show clearly how a destabilized climate leads to more severe weather events,” said Bill McGuire, a climate scientist at University College London. “As climate breakdown progresses, we should expect more broken records.”
Despite these warnings, public attention remains focused elsewhere. “The threat to the planet is existential, but our attention is elsewhere,” said Helen Clarkson, CEO of the Climate Group, noting that while India faced scorching heat and Australia battled floods, economic headlines dominated global discourse.
Scientists Seek Answers
The spike in global temperatures has already made 2023 and 2024 the hottest years on record. Last year was also the first full calendar year to surpass the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement—a milestone that doesn’t mark a permanent breach but is a sign that the target may be slipping out of reach.
If current warming trends continue, scientists estimate the world could cross the 1.5°C mark permanently by 2030.
While the overwhelming driver of long-term warming remains fossil fuel emissions, scientists are still investigating other contributors to the recent heat surge. Possible factors include changes in global cloud cover, air pollution levels, and the diminishing capacity of forests and oceans to absorb carbon.
“There are still phenomena that remain to be explained,” said Vautard. “But even so, the current temperatures are within the upper range of what climate models have projected.”
Experts believe Earth is now experiencing its warmest period in at least 125,000 years.
