A century-long record by the greatest margin yet seen for any month has been shattered by the global temperature in March.

Driven largely by climate change, and was described by scientists as a “shocker” and signalling “a kind of climate emergency”, February was far above the long term average globally. But March was even hotter as shown by data released by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

According to the JMA figures, while February was 1.04C higher, March was 1.07C hotter across the globe when compared with the 20th-century average. Dating back to 1891, the JMA measurements show that every one of the past 11 months has been the hottest ever recorded for that month.

While confirming that February had seen the biggest margin, data released later by Nasa confirmed last month was the hottest March on record. While February was 1.34C higher, March as 1.28C above the average from 1951-1980, the Nasa data recorded.

The March data had “smashed” previous records, the World Meteorological Organisation, the UN body for climate and weather, said.

Even scientists have been struck by the recent unprecedented temperatures even though climate change is usually assessed over years and decades. With 2015 demolishing the record set in 2014 for the hottest year seen, annual heat records have been also tumbling in data stretching back to 1850.

The global temperature record is set to have been broken for three years in a row, predicts the UK Met Office as it expects 2016 to set a new record.

“Wow. I continue to be shocked by what we are seeing,” said Prof Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State University in the US while responding to the March data. The world had now been hovering close to the threshold of “dangerous” warming for two months, something not seen before, he said.

“The [new data] is a reminder of how perilously close we now are to permanently crossing into dangerous territory. It underscores the urgency of reducing global carbon emissions,” Mann said.

Later this month, the Met Office, along with the US agencies Nasa and Noaa will release their assessment of March temperatures. These organizations keep the most-used global temperature records. But the JMA records have shown the same trends as these in the past.

2C was set as the danger limit for global warming which should not be passed was confirmed at the UN climate summit in Paris in December.  In a target that now looks highly optimistic, it also agreed agreed to “pursue efforts” to limit warming to 1.5C.

Global temperatures is been boosted by a major El Niño weather event, the biggest since 1998. But scientists are agree that in the astonishing run of temperature records, global warming driven by humanity’s greenhouse gas emission is the largest factor.

“While the current spike in global temperatures is getting a boost from El Niño, most of this anomalous warmth is a result of the ongoing human-caused global warming trend,” said Professor Stefan Rahmstorf, a climate scientist at Potsdam University in Germany.

“While the El Nino is now decaying, it’s impact on global temperature tends to peak a few months later due to a delayed effect on the rest of the world’s oceans. This means that there is a high risk of record global temperatures over the next few months. Global temperatures are expected to continue to rise in future decades due to climate change, but El Niño may well [end] later this year, reducing the chance of record temperatures in 2017,” said Prof Adam Scaife, at the UK Met Office.

(Adapted from theguardian.com)