Global heat record broken for 10th consecutive month

Year 2024 recorded the warmest March ever documented globally, marking the 10th month in a row to be the hottest on record, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, reported Xinhua.

The average surface air temperature across the globe reached 14.14 degrees Celsius last month, surpassing the 1991-2020 March average by 0.73 degrees Celsius, Copernicus noted in a report released on Tuesday.

"March 2024 continues the sequence of climate records toppling for both air temperature and ocean surface temperatures," Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement. "Stopping further warming requires rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."

For the past 12 months, the global average temperature was 1.58 degrees Celsius higher than in the pre-industrial era, exceeding targets set out by the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.

In December last year, the 28th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference reached an agreement to gradually phase out the use of fossil fuels, which are a major contributor to global warming. Despite this, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the planet was still "minutes to midnight" for sticking to the 1.5-degree limit. "And the clock keeps ticking."

As Europe's largest economy, Germany is playing a key role in fighting climate change. It is seeking to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, five years ahead of the European Union target. By 2030, they aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent, compared to 1990 levels.

According to the latest projections from the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Germany is now on track to achieve its 2030 targets. Last year, the country reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 10.1 percent year-on-year to around 673 million tons, the UBA said in March.

"Now we can close the gap if we continue to work hard to implement the necessary measures," Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said in March, also emphasizing that greater efforts were needed in certain areas such as transport and the building sector.