2025 'virtually certain' to be 2nd or 3rd hottest year
What's the story
Data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus program forecasts that the year 2025 is "virtually certain" to end as the second- or third-hottest on record. The global temperatures from January to November were on average 1.48°C higher than preindustrial levels. The anomalies are similar to those recorded in 2023, which was the second-hottest year on record after 2024.
Temperature rise
'Three-year average on track to exceed 1.5°C'
Dr Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus Climate Change Service, said global temperatures were 1.54°C above preindustrial levels in November alone. She added that "the three-year average for 2023-2025 is on track to exceed 1.5°C for the first time." The agency's monthly bulletin also revealed that last month was the third-warmest November globally, with significantly warmer temperatures across northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean.
Climate consequences
Extreme weather events and carbon pollution impact
The extreme weather events in November included cyclones and catastrophic floods across South and Southeast Asia. These were attributed to the carbon pollution blanket smothering the Earth, which has intensified weather extremes from heatwaves to heavy rains. The Copernicus report found 2025 is tied with 2023 as the second-hottest year on record. Dr Burgess emphasized that these milestones reflect "the accelerating pace of climate change" and stressed the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate future temperature rises.
Emission rise
'Not on track to meet Paris agreement goals'
Since the Paris climate agreement in 2015, planet-heating emissions have continued to rise, despite the expansion of renewable energy. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also echoed similar findings before the COP30 summit in Brazil last month. The WMO found that 2015-2025 would be the 11 warmest years on record since 1850. WMO Secretary General Prof Celeste Saulo said, "We are not on track to meet the goals of the Paris agreement."