Europe has recorded its hottest march since it began in a series of extraordinary global heats, despite how fast and fast the EU is to cut emissions by 2040.
New data released by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Services (C3S) show last month’s Monday show was not only the warmest march in Europe, but also the second most powerful march in the world, slightly behind it in March 2024.
On average, global temperatures in March were 1.6c higher than pre-industrial levels, continuing the troublesome pattern of violating 1.5c.
Twenty of the last 21 months have exceeded the iconic 1.5c threshold, with scientists warning that it will increase the risk of extreme weather and irreversible climate damage.
Last year was the hottest year recorded worldwide, and 2025 is on track to continue that trend.
The main factor in climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning, C3S said it reflects global scientific consensus. Without a significant reduction in emissions, temperatures are expected to continue to rise.
Samantha Burgess, the strategic lead of the European Medium-Distance Weather Forecast Centre, running the C3S, said March saw extreme weather across Europe.
This kind of contrast – flooding in some places, drought elsewhere – is becoming more common in the world of global warming. The climate crisis promotes both drought and extreme rainfall. Hoarst air dries the soil faster, but it increases moisture and makes the storm stronger when impacted.
Activists are asking the government to stop approving new fossil fuel projects and force pollution companies to pay the damage.
Rebecca Newsom, a global political advisor to Greenpeace International’s launch of shutdown drilling campaign, said Europe “is at risk of facing harsher heat waves and wildfires later in the year, warning that “a extreme contrasting rainfall in the European region alone will immediately challenge our food system and the economy as a whole.”
“European citizens should not leave them alone to pay for the confusion that dirty energy companies are fueling,” she said.
“In recent months, we have seen oil and gas companies increasing plans to release more greenhouse gases. “European governments should stop exploring more oil and gas and prevent these companies from doing so by banning all new fossil fuel projects.”
She also sought new taxes on oil majors such as Shell, Totalenergies, Equinor and Eni.
In the Arctic, sea ice ranges have dropped to a minimum of March levels in 47 years of satellite records following a series of record lows over the past few months. This continues to be a worrying trend as polar regions warm up significantly faster than the global average.
These astonishing numbers come as the EU faces political sectors about how quickly it will cut emissions in the coming decades. The European Commission is currently drafting a new 2040 climate target, with experts recommending a 90-95% reduction in net emissions compared to 1990 levels.
However, some EU lawmakers, including senior central politician Peter Liese, argue that the 90% target is “ambiguous” and risks damaging European industries.
“We really think that when 90% is implemented without flexibility, it will lead to industrial deattack,” he said in an interview.
The new findings come just days after the World Weather Organization confirmed last year that it exceeded 1.5c and past 1.5c for the first time in a year, threatening the impacts from heat waves, floods and glacial melts.
Scientists and climate experts say the world is not doing well to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to less than 2C, or ideally 1.5C, unless immediate and deep emission reductions occur.
Without action, the projection shows that the world could reach warming between 2.5c and 2.9c by the end of the century.
