2025 Third-Warmest Year, 3-Year Avg Tops 1.5°C

Scientists from Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced on Wednesday that 2025 marked the third-warmest year on record globally, with average temperatures reaching 1.47 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This placed it just behind the record set in 2024 and the second-hottest year in 2023, confirming that the past 11 years have been the warmest since comprehensive records began.

The data revealed a significant milestone: for the first time, the three-year average temperature from 2023 to 2025 surpassed the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Independent analyses from the UK Met Office and the University of East Anglia corroborated the findings, with their HadCRUT5 dataset estimating 2025 at 1.41 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 baseline and the three-year average at 1.47 degrees Celsius. While 2025 was 0.13 degrees Celsius cooler than 2024, it remained the warmest year on record during a La Niña phase, when Pacific Ocean surface waters are cooler than average.

The warming trend stems primarily from rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, driven by human activities such as burning fossil fuels,...