Global Climate Highlights 2025: The Planet Remains at Record Heat 

Feature image: The maps show how the number of days with strong heat stress and strong cold stress in 2025 differed from the 1991–2020 average. Strong heat stress days are defined by feels-like temperatures of 32°C or higher, while strong cold stress days occur when feels-like temperatures fall to −13°C or lower. Credit: ERA5-HEAT from Copernicus Climate Change Service and ECMWF.

The Global Climate Highlights 2025 report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms that the planet remains in an unprecedented phase of sustained warming. Global temperatures in 2025 stayed near record levels, reinforcing clear evidence that climate change is no longer a future risk but a present and accelerating reality with widespread impacts across natural and human systems. 

Key Developments in 2025 

• 2025 was the third warmest year ever recorded globally, underscoring the persistence of extreme global heat. 

• The three-year period from 2023 to 2025 exceeded 1.5°C above preindustrial levels for the first time, signaling sustained warming rather than a temporary anomaly 

• The last eleven years are the warmest eleven years on record, confirming a long term and accelerating warming trend 

• January 2025 was the warmest January ever recorded worldwide, continuing a sequence of record-breaking monthly temperatures 

• Sea surface temperatures remained exceptionally high across most ocean basins, sustaining widespread marine heatwaves and ocean heat stress 

• Ocean heat content continued to increase, reflecting long term energy accumulation in the climate system 

• Global sea ice extent reached record or near record low levels during several months, driven by extreme losses in both the Arctic and Antarctic 

• Antarctica experienced its warmest year on record, while the Arctic recorded one of its warmest years observed 

• Heat stress intensified across land areas, with roughly half of the world’s land surface experiencing more days of strong heat stress than average 

• Extreme heat conditions increasingly overlapped with drought and wildfire risk, amplifying impacts on ecosystems and human systems 

Global Implications 

• Increased frequency and intensity of extreme heat events affecting human health and productivity 

• Accelerated sea level rise driven by polar ice loss and ocean warming 

• Growing risks to food systems, freshwater availability, and ecosystem stability 

• Higher likelihood of compound climate hazards including heat, drought, and wildfire 

• Disproportionate impacts on climate vulnerable regions and communities 

Urgent Response Needed 

• Rapid and deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit further warming beyond 1.5°C 

• Stronger investment in climate adaptation and resilience, particularly for vulnerable regions 

• Immediate integration of climate science into policy, health systems, and development planning 

Every fraction of a degree matters, and every year of delay raises the risks. 

Read more: Extreme weather events | Health risks | Climate Risks Daily 

Original source: https://climate.copernicus.eu/global-climate-highlights-2025