Second-hottest March ever: India and world face escalating climate challenges

Heatwave

Climate change is no longer just a topic taught in schools it's a harsh reality that humankind is living through every day. Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service has reported that global temperatures remained at historic highs in March 2025.

This alarming trend underscores the urgent reality of climate change, with both regional and global temperature records continuing to be shattered.

In the wake of this global rise, India is no exception and is also experiencing the intensifying effects.

India heats up: Early heatwaves signal a harsh summer

Summer is just knocking at doorstep and India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) has already issued 'yellow alert' for Delhi till Wednesday. Mercury has already soared up to the temperature of 40-degree Celsius in several parts of Delhi this week.

For only the second time in the past 15 years, Delhi has hit 40°C this early in the summer, and it's now bracing for a four-day heatwave in April—an event that didn’t occur in 2024.

The ordeal of soaring temperatures isn’t limited to the national capital—several other Indian states are also reeling under its impact.

West Rajasthan and areas of Gujarat faced the most intense heat, battling severe heatwave conditions.

Central Indian states—including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Telangana, and sections of Karnataka—saw temperatures rise 1°C to 4°C above normal.

In India, an El Nino is associated with a harsher summer and weaker monsoon. La Nina, meanwhile, is associated with a strong monsoon, above average rains and colder winters.

Global temperatures rise 

Europe has just recorded its hottest March on record, marked by extreme rainfall across a continent warming faster than any other. Globally, March 2025 ranked as the second hottest ever, with an average surface air temperature of 14.06°C—0.65°C above the 1991–2020 average and 1.60°C higher than pre-industrial levels for the month.

The 12-month period of April 2024 – March 2025 was 0.71°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.59°C above the pre-industrial level cites the report by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

March 2025 was the 20th month in the last 21 months for which the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level.

Rising levels of temperatures is a global phenomenon. Above average temperatures were recorded over large parts of the Arctic, in particular over the Canadian Archipelago and Baffin Bay. including parts of the United States, Mexico, parts of Asia, and Australia.

With 71% of Earth’s surface covered by water, the effects of climate change are clearly visible in our oceans and water bodies—rising sea levels and shrinking ice cover signal a growing crisis that can no longer be ignored.

Ocean heating and shrinking ice raise alarms

March 2025 continued to reflect the intensifying impact of climate change, with the average global sea surface temperature (SST) over 60°S–60°N reaching 20.96°C—the second highest ever for the month, just shy of the record set in March 2024.

Arctic sea ice hit a worrying milestone, registering its lowest extent for March in the 47-year satellite record—6% below average. This month is also marked the region’s lowest annual maximum ice coverage ever recorded. Ice levels were especially low in the Barents Sea and Sea of Okhotsk.

Meanwhile, Antarctic Sea ice isn't spared from the effect of climate change, recording its fourth lowest March extent—24% below the norm.

These trends, consistent with rising global temperatures, highlight the urgent need for global action as polar regions continue to warm and destabilize at alarming rates.

Scientists warn that Earth is now likely experiencing its warmest period in the last 125,000 years. While modern records go back to 1940, evidence from ice cores, tree rings, and coral skeletons reveals a dramatic and unprecedented rise in global temperatures.

ENSO shifts amid climate crisis: India braces for weather extremes

The Climate prediction center has issued a report citing that the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral may develop in the April to August 2025 and persist through the Northern Hemisphere summer.

The El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a recurring climate pattern with two phases—El Nino (warm) and La Nina (cool)—that significantly influence global weather and ocean temperatures.

Even during the subsequent weak La Nina phase which emerged in December and typically brings cooler temperatures, many countries including India logged record temperatures.

El Nino and La Nina—natural climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean—significantly influence India’s weather. El Niño is often linked to harsher summers and weaker monsoons, while La Nina tends to bring stronger monsoons, above-average rainfall, and colder winters.

However, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that these natural events are now playing out in the shadow of human-induced climate change, which is amplifying extreme weather, altering seasonal rainfall, and driving temperatures higher across the globe—including in India.