The World Meteorological Organization has declared 2025 the second-hottest year globally, with temperatures averaging 1.47°C above pre-industrial levels. This marks a concerning milestone, as it surpasses previous records despite a cooling La Niña pattern. The past 11 years now represent the warmest in recorded history.
The announcement from the World Meteorological Organization underscores the accelerating pace of global warming. In 2025, average temperatures reached 1.47°C above pre-industrial baselines, surpassed only by the record set in 2024. This development is particularly alarming because it occurred amid a La Niña phase, a natural oceanic pattern in the Pacific that typically moderates global heat but failed to do so this time.
Over the last 176 years of temperature records, the 11 most recent years—from 2015 to 2025—stand as the hottest. Climate scientist James Hansen has noted that warming is accelerating at 0.31°C per decade, forecasting that temperatures could exceed 1.7°C by 2027. For the first time, the three-year average from 2023 to 2025 has topped the 1.5°C threshold established by the Paris Agreement, a limit scientists deem essential to avert severe, irreversible climate impacts for current generations.
Contributing factors include rising atmospheric CO₂ levels, which hit 423.9 parts per million in 2024—53% above pre-industrial concentrations. Extreme weather events have intensified accordingly: heat waves are now ten times more likely than a decade ago, Arctic sea ice recorded its lowest winter maximum ever, wildfires ravaged Greece and Turkey, and typhoons prompted mass evacuations in Southeast Asia.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo warned, “Each year above 1.5 degrees will hammer economies, deepen inequalities and inflict irreversible damage.” Despite this, political responses lag; the United States under the Trump administration is reportedly suppressing climate data and rolling back clean energy initiatives in favor of coal, oil, and gas. Meanwhile, the recent COP30 summit concluded without a firm commitment to phase out fossil fuels, highlighting ongoing tensions between science and policy.
