Brussels: The planet is on track to log its second hottest year on record in 2025, tied with 2023 after a historic high in 2024, Europe’s global warming monitor said Tuesday. The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service reaffirms that global temperatures are on course to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the threshold considered safer in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
According to Nam News Network, temperatures rose by 1.48°C on average between January and November, currently tying with 2023 as the second-warmest year on record, as stated in the service’s monthly update. The three-year average for 2023-2025 is on track to exceed 1.5°C for the first time, according to Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at Copernicus.
Burgess highlighted that these milestones reflect the accelerating pace of climate change and emphasized that mitigating future rising temperatures necessitates a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had previously warned that the
world may not be able to contain global warming below 1.5°C in the coming years.
Last month was marked as the third warmest November on record, with temperatures 1.54°C above pre-industrial levels, according to Copernicus. The average surface air temperature reached 14.02°C. Although these incremental rises may seem small, scientists caution that they are already destabilizing the climate and intensifying storms, floods, and other disasters.
November witnessed numerous extreme weather events, including tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia, which resulted in widespread catastrophic flooding and loss of life. The Philippines experienced devastating back-to-back typhoons that claimed approximately 260 lives, while Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand were also affected by massive floods.
The global average temperature for the northern hemisphere autumn, from September to November, was the third highest on record, following 2023 and 2024. Temperatures were largely above average across the globe, particularly in no
rthern Canada, over the Arctic Ocean, and across Antarctica, though there were notable cold anomalies in northeastern Russia.
Copernicus collects its measurements using billions of satellite and weather readings, both on land and at sea, with data extending back to 1940. Global temperatures have been heightened by human emissions of planet-heating gases, mainly from fossil fuels burned on a massive scale since the industrial revolution. Despite an agreement at the UN’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels, ambitions have stalled since then.