The year 2025 is preparing for 2023 second year more warm registered in history, having reached the historical maximum in 2024, according to data from the European Global Warming Monitor.
For the Copernicus Climate Change Service, this scenario confirms that the planet is about to cross the threshold 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a barrier seen as critical in the EU Paris Agreement 2015 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The trend, which has accelerated in recent years, is expected to have profound consequences for climate stability, the global economy and the lives of millions of people.
Now it is World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned about the state of the world’s climate that the series of exceptional temperatures shows no signs of reversing. According to the WMO Each of the last 11 years, from 2015 to 2025, is among the 11 warmest since records began 176 years agoand the last three years are the three warmest ever documented. The average near-surface temperature between January and August 2025 was 1.42°C ± 0.12°C above the pre-industrial averagea data value that the WMO describes as unprecedented.
The effects of this warming are reflected in the extreme weather events that have characterized the year. This was reported by the Copernicus Monitor November 2025 was the third warmest November on recordwith an average surface air temperature of 14.02°C and an increase of 1.54 °C compared to pre-industrial levels. Although these increases appear gradual, they are already destabilizing the global climate and increasing storms, floods and other natural disasters.
The WMO said extreme events until August 2025 – including torrential rains, devastating floods, scorching heatwaves and widespread wildfires – had knock-on effects on people, their livelihoods and their food systems. These crises have led to massive displacement and undermined sustainable development and economic progress in various regions.
The situation in the Poles is particularly worrying. According to the WMO Arctic sea ice extent after winter was the lowest ever observedwhile in the Antarctic Sea ice remained well below average throughout the year. In addition, the long-term trend of sea level rise continued despite a slight temporary decline due to natural factors.
The concentrations of Greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere, and ocean heat content reached unprecedented levels in 2024 and continued to rise in 2025, according to the WMO. This phenomenon is directly linked to the massive burning of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, which has accelerated global warming.
He Copernicus Climate Change Service stressed that the three-year average for the period 2023-2025 is on track to exceed that 1.5°C for the first time. Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at Copernicus, said in a statement: “These milestones are not abstract: they reflect the acceleration of climate change and the only way to mitigate future temperature increases is to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterreshad already warned in October that the world would not be able to keep global warming below 1.5°C in the coming years. In his speech at the climate summit in Belém, Brazil, he quoted the WMO report and emphasized: “Every year that the 1.5 ° C threshold is exceeded, economies will be severely affected, inequalities will be exacerbated and irreversible damage will be caused. We must now act very quickly and on a large scale to make the exceedance as small and short as possible, to limit the severity of its consequences as much as possible and to bring temperatures back below 1.5 °C threshold.” 1.5°C limit before the end of the century.”
The Copernicus report also highlighted that the month was marked by a series of events extreme weather eventssuch as tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia, which caused widespread and catastrophic flooding and loss of life. In November, Philippines was hit by two consecutive typhoons that resulted in the deaths of some people 260 peoplewhile Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand They suffered massive flooding.
Regarding the geographical distribution of thermal anomalies, Copernicus pointed out that temperatures were mostly above average worldwide, with a particular frequency in the Northern CanadaHe Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic. However, notable cold anomalies were recorded in northeastern Russia.
The global average temperature during the Northern Hemisphere fall from September to November was also the third highest on record, surpassed only by 2023 and 2024. Copernicus derives its measurements from billions of satellite and meteorological measurements, both on land and at sea, with a database dating back to 1940.
The background to this data is the ongoing global fight to phase out fossil fuels. At the climate summit COP28 the UN Dubai In 2023, nations agreed to move beyond using these resources, although ambitions have since stalled. The climate conference COP30 In Belem, Brazilconcluded last month with an agreement that avoided another explicit call to phase out oil, gas and coal due to objections from fossil fuel-producing countries.
The Secretary General of the WMO, Celeste Saulostated: “This unusual series of high temperatures, combined with last year’s record increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, makes it clear that it will be virtually impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C in the coming years without temperatures temporarily exceeding this threshold. But the science is also clear that it is still entirely possible – and necessary – to reduce temperatures to 1.5°C by the end of the century to contain warming to 1.5°C.”
Scientists warn that temperature increases, although they may seem small, are already destabilizing the climate and making natural disasters more intense and frequent. The Copernicus Monitor highlighted that “the month was marked by a series of extreme weather events, including tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia, which caused widespread and catastrophic flooding and loss of life.”
The WMO concluded that the extreme weather and climate events of 2025 had knock-on effects on people, their livelihoods and food systems, led to displacement and undermined sustainable development and economic progress.
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