2025 Among Three Hottest Years, Breaches 1.5°C Threshold

Scientists have confirmed that 2025 ranked among the three hottest years on record, marking the first time the three-year average global temperature surpassed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold established by the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb warming since preindustrial levels. The finding, detailed in a report from World Weather Attribution researchers released this week, underscores the accelerating impact of human-induced climate change despite a natural cooling pattern in the Pacific Ocean.

The analysis attributes the elevated temperatures primarily to ongoing emissions from burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This occurred even as La Niña conditions, which typically cool global temperatures, were present throughout much of the year. "If we don't stop burning fossil fuels very, very quickly, very soon, it will be very hard to keep that goal of warming," said Friederike Otto, co-founder of World Weather Attribution and a climate scientist at Imperial College London.

The year brought a surge in extreme weather events worldwide, exacerbating risks to human life and economies. Researchers identified 157 severe...