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The year 2025 has officially ranked as the third‑warmest year since global temperature measurements began—surpassed only by 2024 and 2023. New data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service underscores how rapidly the climate crisis is accelerating and how precarious the path toward the Paris Agreement target has become.
A Planet Under Pressure
“2025 was only slightly cooler than 2023, and 2024 remains the warmest year on record,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of Copernicus, during a briefing on the release of the Global Climate Highlights. According to the report, 2025 was just 0.01°C cooler than 2023 and 0.13°C cooler than 2024, with the global average temperature reaching 14.97°C. The last eleven years now stand as the eleven warmest ever recorded.
“2025 was another exceptional year for the planet,” Burgess emphasized.
First Three‑Year Period Above 1.5°C
The data, compiled in cooperation with European and U.S. scientific agencies, reveals a historic milestone: the average global temperature from 2023 to 2025 exceeded pre‑industrial levels by more than 1.5°C. This marks the first time a three‑year period has crossed that threshold.
The report notes that figures may vary slightly among organizations due to differing datasets. The World Meteorological Organization is expected to release its own 2025 temperature assessment shortly.
Paris Climate Goal in Acute Danger
Despite the multi‑year overshoot, the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit is not yet considered officially breached, as the threshold must be exceeded over a longer period. Still, most experts now believe the target is effectively unattainable—and even limiting warming to 2°C is becoming increasingly unlikely.
If current trends continue, Copernicus warns that the 1.5°C limit will be considered surpassed by the end of the decade—around ten years earlier than previously expected. “Emissions have not fallen as quickly as anticipated,” Burgess said.
Warming Is Not Linear
The fact that 2025 was slightly cooler than 2024 does not contradict the long‑term warming trend, Copernicus scientists stressed. Even if all greenhouse gas emissions stopped tomorrow, the planet would continue warming due to the long atmospheric lifetime of CO₂.
“With CO₂, we are talking about centuries,” explained Laurence Rouil of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
Local cold spells or below‑average temperatures do not negate global warming. “A cold region does not mean climate change isn’t real. The global context matters,” Burgess said. Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo added: “When you zoom out and look at the big picture, the trend is unmistakable.”
Greenhouse Gases and Ocean Heat Drive Record Temperatures
The unusually high global temperature is driven by rising greenhouse gas concentrations—both from continued emissions and reduced absorption by natural sinks such as forests. Ocean surface temperatures also reached exceptional levels, amplified by the El Niño phenomenon, which warms the tropical Pacific and disrupts weather patterns worldwide. The event weakened over the course of the year but left a significant imprint on global temperatures.
Extreme Weather on the Rise
People feel climate change most acutely through extreme weather, Burgess noted. In 2025, half of the world’s land area experienced more days of severe heat stress than average—defined as days that feel like 32°C or hotter. The World Health Organization identifies heat stress as the leading cause of weather‑related deaths.
Heat also contributed to widespread wildfires, particularly in dry and windy regions. In Europe, wildfire emissions reached a new peak in 2025, according to Copernicus.
“The world is rapidly approaching the long‑term temperature limit set in the Paris Agreement,” Buontempo warned. “We will inevitably exceed it. Now we must decide how to manage this unavoidable overshoot and its consequences for societies and ecosystems.”
- source: vienna.at/picture: pixabay.com
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