Copernicus: March 2024 is the tenth month in a row to be the hottest on record (2024)

Newsflash

Bonn, 08/04/2024

Surface air temperature anomaly for March 2024 relative to the March average for the period 1991-2020. Data source: ERA5. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF. 
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The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air and sea temperatures, sea ice cover and hydrological variables. All the reported findings are based on computer-generated analyses and according to ERA5 dataset, using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.

Monthly global surface air temperature anomalies (°C) relative to 1850–1900 from January 1940 to March 2024, plotted as time series for each year. 2024 is shown with a thick yellow line, 2023 with a thick red line, and all other years with thin lines shaded according to the decade, from blue (1940s) to brick red (2020s). Data source: ERA5. Credit: C3S/ECMWF.
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Surface air temperature and sea surface temperature highlights

• March 2024 was warmer globally than any previous March in the data record, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 14.14°C, 0.73°C above the 1991-2020 average for March and 0.10°C above the previous high set in March 2016.

• This is the tenth month in a row that is the warmest on record for the respective month of the year.

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• The month was 1.68°C warmer than an estimate of the March average for 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period.

• The global-average temperature for the past twelve months (April 2023 – March 2024) is the highest on record, at 0.70°C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.58°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.

• The average European temperature for March 2024 was 2.12°C above the 1991-2020 average for March, making the month the second warmest March on record for the continent, only a marginal 0.02°C cooler than March 2014. Temperatures were most above average in central and eastern regions.

• Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average over eastern North America, Greenland, eastern Russia, Central America, parts of South America, many parts of Africa, southern Australia, and parts of Antarctica.

• The El Niño continued to weaken in the eastern equatorial Pacific, but marine air temperatures in general remained at an unusually high level. 

• The global sea surface temperature averaged for March over 60°S–60°N was 21.07°C, the highest monthly value on record, marginally above the 21.06°C recorded for February.

Samantha Burgess Deputy Director of Copernicus Climate Service (C3S) emphasized the significance of the situation: “March 2024 continues the sequence of climate records toppling for both air temperature and ocean surface temperatures, with the 10th consecutive record-breaking month. 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.’’

Daily sea surface temperature (°C) averaged over the extra-polar global ocean (60°S–60°N) for 2016 (yellow), 2023 (red), and 2024 (black line). All other years between 1979 and 2022 are shown with grey lines. Data source: ERA5. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF.
ACCESS TO DATA|DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINAL IMAGE

Daily sea surface temperature (°C) averaged over the extra-polar global ocean (60°S–60°N) for 2016 (yellow), 2023 (red), and 2024 (black line). All other years between 1979 and 2022 are shown with grey lines. Data source: ERA5. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF.
ACCESS TO DATA|DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINAL IMAGE

Sea ice highlights

• Arctic sea ice extent reached its annual maximum in March, with a monthly value slightly below average, marking the highest March extent since 2013.

• As in January and February, sea ice concentration anomalies were mixed across the Arctic Ocean. Concentrations remained above average in the Greenland Sea, a persistent feature since October. 

• Antarctic sea ice extent was 20% below average, the sixth lowest extent for March in the satellite data record, continuing a series of large negative anomalies observed since 2017. 

• As in February, sea ice concentrations were most below-average in the northern Weddell Sea and in the Ross-Amundsen Sea sector. 

Hydrological variables highlights

• In March 2024, it was wetter than average in most of western Europe, with storms causing heavy rainfall over the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. It was also wetter than average in regions of Scandinavia and north-western Russia.

• The rest of Europe was predominantly drier than average, with pronounced below-average precipitation over north-western Norway.

• In March 2024, it was wetter than average in regions of North America, across Central Asia, Japan, much of the Arabian Peninsula, Madagascar, and parts of South America. Australia experienced an exceptionally wet month.

• Drier-than-average conditions established in parts of central USA, western Canada and northern Mexico, regions of Central Asia and China and in south-eastern Australia, most of southern Africa and South America.

- End -

More Information

More information about climate variables in March and climate updates of previous months as well as high-resolution graphics and the video can be downloaded here (this link can be accessed when the embargo is lifted).

Answers to frequently asked questions regarding temperature monitoring can be found here.

Temperature monitoring FAQs

More information on Climate Pulse here.

More information on Climate Atlas here.

The findings about global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) presented here are based on SST data from ERA5 averaged over the 60°S–60°N domain. Note that ERA5 SSTs are estimates of the ocean temperature at about 10m depth (known as foundation temperature). The results, may differ from other SST products providing temperature estimates at different depths, such as 20cm depth for NOAA’s OISST.

Information about the C3S data set and how it is compiled:

Temperature and hydrological maps and data are from ECMWF Copernicus Climate Change Service’s ERA5 dataset.

Sea ice maps and data are from a combination of information from ERA5, as well as from the EUMETSAT OSI SAF Sea Ice Index v2.1, Sea Ice Concentration CDR/ICDR v2 and fast-track data provided upon request by OSI SAF.

Regional area averages quoted here are the following longitude/latitude bounds:

Globe, 180W-180E, 90S-90N, over land and ocean surfaces.

Europe, 25W-40E, 34N-72N, over land surfaces only.

About the Data and Analysis

Information on national records and impacts:

Information on national records and impacts are based on national and regional reports. For details see the respective temperature and hydrological C3S climate bulletin for the month.

C3S has followed the recommendation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to use the most recent 30-year period for calculating climatological averages and changed to the reference period of 1991-2020 for its C3S Climate Bulletins covering January 2021 onward. Figures and graphics for both the new and previous period (1981-2010) are provided for transparency.

More information on the reference period

About Copernicus and ECMWF

Copernicus is a component of the European Union’s space programme, with funding by the EU, and is its flagship Earth observation programme, which operates through six thematic services: Atmosphere, Marine, Land, Climate Change, Security and Emergency. It delivers freely accessible operational data and services providing users with reliable and up-to-date information related to our planet and its environment. The programme is coordinated and managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with the Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies and Mercator Océan, amongst others. 

ECMWF operates two services from the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation programme: the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). They also contribute to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), which is implemented by the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC). The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by 35 states. It is both a research institute and a 24/7 operational service, producing and disseminating numerical weather predictions to its Member States. This data is fully available to the national meteorological services in the Member States. The supercomputer facility (and associated data archive) at ECMWF is one of the largest of its type in Europe and Member States can use 25% of its capacity for their own purposes. 

ECMWF has expanded its location across its Member States for some activities. In addition to an HQ in the UK and Computing Centre in Italy, offices with a focus on activities conducted in partnership with the EU, such as Copernicus, are in Bonn, Germany. 

 
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service website can be found at http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/ 

The Copernicus Climate Change Service website can be found at https://climate.copernicus.eu/ 

More information on Copernicus: www.copernicus.eu 

The ECMWF website can be found at https://www.ecmwf.int/ 

This press release is also available in other languages.