Earth has a long-running fever that shows little sign of abating. The planet has broken high temperature records in each of the last nine months, and March is about to become the tenth. In several places around the world, unprecedented temperatures were recorded on the last weekend of the month, as if to put an exclamation point on this exceptional spell of heat.
The weekend heat was most widespread in Europe, where many countries broke national records for maximum temperatures in March. But it was also unusually warm in Asia, parts of Central America and West Africa.
Climate change caused by human activity from the combustion of coal, oil and natural gas is fueling this heat, aided by the El Niño weather pattern.
Calor verrain in Europe
The weekend in Eastern Europe has been more summery than springlike, with temperatures reaching 70 and 80 degrees, between 20 and 35 above normal. Eight countries broke national heat records in March:
Albania: 29.6 degrees Celsius in Kuçovo.
Belarus: 27.2 degrees Celsius in Lelchitsy.
Croatia: 29 degrees Celsius in Osijek.
Estonia: 21.3 degrees Celsius in Valga.
Latvia: 22.8 degrees Celsius in Skulte.
Lithuania: 25.5 degrees Celsius en Druskininkai.
Moldavia: 29.7 degrees Celsius in Sîngerei.
Poland: 26.4 degrees Celsius in Tarlów.
High temperature records were also broken in Greece, Türkiye, Ukraine and Russia.
Summer heat in Asia
To the east, all of Japan was bathed in midsummer temperatures until late March, returning to conditions that offered one of the country’s warmest winters on record.
“On March 31, astonishing heat, similar to that of July, covered Japan. 70 places broke or tied the monthly record,” Sayaka Mori, NHK World meteorologist, wrote in X. On the 31st, the temperature reached 28.1 degrees Celsius in Tokyo, surpassing the previous monthly record by about 5 degrees Celsius in observations dating back to 1876.
The sudden arrival of warmth followed an unusually cold spell in Tokyo, where its famous cherry blossom trees bloomed at the latest in 12 years. Many cities on the main island of Honshu set March high temperature records on Sunday, including Fuji, Nakamura, Narita, Tsukuba and Yokohama. Records were broken in most of the area of that island.
Localities in Asia south and east of Japan have seen increasingly long-lasting heat. Hong Kong experienced its hottest day on March 24, with 31.5 degrees Celsius. Phuket, Thailand, reached the highest temperature ever recorded in a month on March 27, at 39.2 degrees Celsius.
Record heat elsewhere
Record heat also closed out the month in parts of West Africa, Central America and several tropical locations around the world.
In La Fragua, Guatemala, 44 degrees Celsius was reached, the highest temperature recorded in Central America. Costa Rica reached the highest temperature ever recorded on several occasions, with 41.5 degrees Celsius, while cities in neighboring countries also recorded historic highs.
The Solomon Islands recently recorded its hottest day of March, with temperatures reaching 35.5 degrees Celsius. In addition to the flurry of record highs, even more records for exceptionally warm nights have been broken.
The heat fits the pattern
A study published Friday in Science Advances reveals that heat waves are increasingly lasting longer and covering greater distances.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there is a 45.1 percent chance that 2024 will be the warmest year on record, surpassing 2023, and a 99.9 percent chance that it will be among the top five warmest years. . To date, global air and sea surface temperatures have remained at record levels every day, well above those observed at the same time a year ago.
With the El Niño weather pattern – which naturally adds heat to the planet – expected to dissipate heading into summer, the exceptional global heat may subside slightly in the coming months.
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