2025 Marks Third Hottest Year Globally as Climate Change Accelerates

The year 2025 has been recorded as the third hottest year globally and in Europe, further underscoring the alarming acceleration of climate change. According to data from the European Climate Observatory Copernicus and the American institute Berkeley Earth, 2025 temperatures were approximately 1.47°C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). This continues a disturbing trend with 2023 and 2024—the hottest year on record—also exceeding the critical 1.5°C global warming threshold set by the Paris Agreement.

Experts emphasize that for the first time, the average global surface temperatures over the past three years have sustained levels beyond this 1.5°C limit, traditionally regarded as the most ambitious goal to avoid dangerous climate impacts. Berkeley Earth scientists highlight an extreme acceleration in global warming between 2023 and 2025, warning that surpassing the 1.5°C threshold is now viewed as an inevitable and permanent state. This scenario poses heightened risks of more intense heatwaves, storms, and environmental disruptions.

The rise in temperatures is primarily driven by record greenhouse gas emissions, especially from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. Geopolitical tensions have impeded coordinated climate action and weakened natural carbon sinks like forests. Crucially, wealthy countries including France and Germany have seen their emission reduction efforts stall in 2025, while emissions in the United States have increased due to a resurgence in coal usage.

Samantha Burgess, Strategic Climate Leader at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, pointed out that while the Paris Agreement's temperature limit has not been officially violated yet, the current trajectory makes a permanent overshoot by 2030 likely—about a decade earlier than scientists had predicted in 2015. Mauro Facchini, head of Copernicus, stressed the urgent need for climate action, noting there are no signs suggesting 2026 will reverse these trends.

This sustained and accelerating warming trend presents serious challenges requiring global cooperation and intensified efforts to curb greenhouse gases, especially as previous political and economic setbacks have slowed progress. The official recognition of permanent warming above 1.5°C might occur by the end of this decade, raising the stakes for international climate commitments and environmental policies.