Europe sees warmest March on record, second-warmest globally
Europe saw its warmest March since records began, with average temperatures climbing just above 6 degrees Celsius — 2.41 degrees higher than the 1991–2020 average, according to EU climate agency Copernicus.
Globally, it was the second-warmest March ever recorded.
The findings underscore growing concerns that the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is slipping out of reach.
While 2024 has already breached the threshold, the target is only considered officially missed if it is exceeded over multiple years.
Copernicus also reported the lowest Arctic sea ice extent ever observed in a March.
Much of Central Europe, including Germany, experienced unusually dry conditions. Stress on ecosystems is already visible, with plants and animals increasingly affected by the lack of moisture.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said it was a month of "contrasting rainfall extremes" across Europe with many areas experiencing their driest March on record and others their wettest March on record for at least the past 47 years.
Germany's Environment Minister Steffi Lemke called the current drought alarming, warning that large parts of the country are facing an unusual spring dryness.
She said the climate crisis is already impacting agriculture and forestry, elevating wildfire risks and raising the likelihood of reduced harvests.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Musician records sound of climate change in Arctic
The sound of Arctic wind howling through the strings of Sarah Smout's carbon fibre cello on the pack ice connected to the North Pole is like nothing she has heard before. She joined a group of artists from all over the world on a trip to research and be inspired by the "breathtaking and absolutely vast" landscape of the Arctic Circle. The musician and poet spent 16 days on board a specially-equipped ship in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and experienced temperatures of -15C. She said she saw climate change happening before her eyes as "cracks began to form on the ice, a large shelf broke off and we were hurried back onto the boat, no longer safe on the drifting piece of ice". Smout is using music, words and sound recordings to make her debut album, which will focus on climate change in the Arctic. "Music is a brilliant way to bring people together, speak to their hearts and minds and inspire them to make decisions themselves to bring about positive change," said Smout. "We are witness to the climate changing all around us, but none so dramatic and fast as in the Arctic. "It might be far away but what happens there affects all of us." She said visiting Svalbard had made her more driven than ever to bring the sounds she has recorded to the wider public. She hopes listeners will connect to what is happening in that part of the world and be encouraged to protect it. Smout said her current research was about water and that she and her cello, which she has named Bernard, had been on many adventurers to explore nature. "I've always been fascinated by the Arctic and I think being in places and getting a sense of the place first hand sparks my own creativity," she said. Smout used a hydrophone to record under water and said the sounds she had collected, such as creaking glaciers, would speak for themselves on her album. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. The race to save the fastest-warming place on Earth Arctic 'doesn't want you to survive', says explorer before mission
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
The sun: Facts about the bright star at the center of the solar system
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Quick facts about the sun How big it is: 865,000 miles (1.392 million kilometers) across How far away it is: 93 million miles (150 million km) What type of star it is: A yellow dwarf star The sun is the star at the center of our solar system. It's the largest, brightest and most massive object in the solar system, and it provides the light and heat that life on Earth depends on. Powered by a process called nuclear fusion, the sun can get hotter than 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). The sun has been around for over 4 billion years, but one day, it will run out of fuel. Read on to learn more about what our local star is made of, how it formed and what will happen when it dies. Over 1 million Earths could fit inside the sun. The sun may look yellow from Earth, but it actually releases every color of light, meaning its true color is white. The sun is unique in that it's the only star in our solar system. Up to 85% of stars have at least one companion star. The sun contains over 99% of the mass of our entire solar system. Like Earth, the sun also rotates on its axis. Each rotation takes about 27 Earth days. The sun is a ball of gas and plasma made mostly of hydrogen. The sun uses these vast stores of hydrogen to generate the heat and light that sustain our planet. It does this through a process called nuclear fusion, in which two hydrogen atoms combine to create a different element, helium. The sun is about three-quarters hydrogen and one-quarter helium, with tiny amounts of metals. The larger a star is, the more rapidly it burns through its hydrogen. Some of the largest known stars — such as those with masses 40 times that of the sun — will live just 1 million years. By contrast, the sun will have a lifetime of around 10 billion years. Different parts of the sun reach different temperatures. The sun's core gets as hot as 27 million F (15 million C). The part of the sun we can see from Earth is called the photosphere, which is the "surface" of the huge ball of plasma. The temperature of the photosphere is about 9,900 F (5,500 C). Above the photosphere is the loose outer atmosphere of the sun, known as the corona. We can't see the corona from Earth under ordinary conditions, though it can be photographed during a total solar eclipse. The sun formed around 4.5 billion years ago. At that time, the area of the Milky Way galaxy that would become the solar system was a dense cloud of gas — the leftovers of an earlier generation of stars. The densest region of this cloud collapsed and created a seed, called a protostar, that would become the sun. As this young protostar grew, planets, moons and asteroids formed from the remaining raw material, and then began circling around the growing sun as they were sucked into orbit by the star's powerful gravity. At the heart of the sun, this same force sparked nuclear fusion. The heat and light from this nuclear reaction allowed life on Earth to evolve and prosper. However, this reaction will eventually lead to the sun's death when it runs out of nuclear fuel. The sun is around halfway through its lifetime. Our star is locked in a constant battle as outward pressure from nuclear fusion fights the inward pull of gravity. When the sun runs out of hydrogen in about 5 billion years, the inward force of gravity will win. The center of the sun will collapse, compressing into a dense core. Helium will start fusing into even denser elements, like carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. While this happens, the heat generated by the fusing of these elements will push the sun's outer shell to swell. This will be bad news for the inner planets of the solar system — including Earth. As the sun becomes a type of star called a red giant, its outer shell will expand to the orbit of Mars, gobbling up Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. But the red-giant phase is not when the sun will die. The outer layers that swell during the red-giant phase will become a shell of gas called a surrounding planetary nebula. This shell will be shed after approximately 1 billion years. This will expose the star's smoldering core, which, by this point, will be a dense ball called a white dwarf. As a white dwarf, the sun will dim. The material from the planetary nebula will spread out into the galaxy and form the building blocks of the next generation of stars and planets. Image 1 of 5 Space agencies have launched many spacecraft that help us observe and gather data about the sun. Pictured here is an artist's concept of the sun being observed by NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Image 2 of 5 The red giant star Camelopardalis. The sun will eventually become a red giant, and as it expands, it will engulf its nearest planets, including Earth. Image 3 of 5 Sunspots are darker, cooler areas that temporarily appear on the sun. They're caused by changes in the sun's magnetic field. Image 4 of 5 Solar storms happen when the sun releases flares of energy and particles. Image 5 of 5 Auroras on Earth happen when charged particles from the sun interact with our planet's atmosphere. Is Earth getting closer to the sun, or farther away? Where on Earth does the sun rise first? What color is the sun?
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
UH: Urgent response required to save world's coral reefs
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A study by researchers at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology found that coral reefs are less frequent in the tropics due to warming oceans. The research found that the reefs are unable to beat the heat and effects of climate change, which rings the emergency alarm for conservationists. 8 takeaways from Hawaiʻi's top ranking for school lunches However, there is still hope, as the research showed that immediate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can improve the future of these iconic ocean scenes across the planet. 'As the ocean warms, species tend to move poleward,' said lead author Noam Vogt-Vincent, lead author of the study. 'We know from the fossil record that coral reefs have previously expanded their ranges in response to past climate change, but we didn't know whether this was a matter of decades or millennia.' In order to predict changes in the distribution of these reefs, the research team used complex simulation models running on UH's high-performance computing cluster. The team created a global model including approximately 50,000 coral reef sites to the model, the researches tested three future emissions scenarios: one with low warming, around two degrees Celsius, a moderate warming scenario, around three degrees Celsius and a high warming model, which is greater than four degrees Celsius. 'By modeling coral reefs globally and incorporating evolution and connectivity, this study provides an unprecedented long-term view of how these complex ecosystems will respond to climate change,' said research professor Lisa McManus. Provided the current condition of the climate on coral reefs, the researchers found both good news and bad news. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news 'Unfortunately, while we've confirmed that coral reef range expansion will indeed eventually occur, the biggest coral losses are expected in the next 60 years, meaning these new, higher-latitude reefs won't form fast enough to save most tropical coral species,' Vogt-Vincent said. While northern Florida, southern Australia and southern Japan may see new reefs in the future, they will not be in existence soon enough to help corals survive through the century, UH said. While the future seems bleak, there is still hope, with significant cuts in emissions, such as those outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement, could dramatically reduce the loss of coral. Aliʻi Drive to revert to a two-way street Currently, coral reduction is on track to lose up to 86% of coral reefs; but with lower emissions, losses could be reduced to only around 33% of coral reefs. 'Our study suggests that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will not just improve coral reef futures this century, but for hundreds to thousands of years into the future,' Vogt-Vincent said. 'Our actions over the next few decades will therefore have incredibly long-lasting consequences for coral reefs globally.' Researchers will continue to monitor reef levels with their supercomputer power to try to better understand both threats and solutions surrounding the world's coral reefs. For more information, visit the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
