2025 Was Earth's 3rd-Hottest Year on Record

If 2025 felt unusually hot, that's because it was—again. New data from the European Union's Copernicus climate change monitoring service shows last year ranked as the third-warmest on record, with global temperatures continuing a streak that's starting to look less like an anomaly and more like the new normal. The planet in 2025 averaged about 1.47 degrees Celsius (2.65°F) warmer than in the preindustrial era of 1850-1900, which is used as a reference point pre-dating carbon pollution starting to stream into the atmosphere, NBC News reports. Copernicus says surface air temperatures ran hotter than average over 91% of the globe. The main driver, according to Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, remains the buildup of greenhouse gases, largely from burning fossil fuels.

The findings echo earlier ones from another group of scientists. Last year falls just behind 2024 and 2023 in the top three, ABC News reports. The last 11 years have been the 11 warmest in modern records. That matters because world governments in the 2015 Paris Agreement pledged to try to hold warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Temperatures have now hovered near or above that threshold for three straight years. "Exceeding a three-year average of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels is a milestone that none of us wished to see," said Mauro Facchini of the European Commission, calling the findings "not encouraging" and warning that the need for climate action "has never been more important."

The numbers arrive as US climate policy heads in the opposite direction. The Trump administration has moved to leave the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and exit the Paris accord, pulled support for the UN's climate science panel, pushed to weaken Environmental Protection Agency authority over greenhouse gases, and promoted coal while rolling back Biden-era incentives for electric vehicles. US emissions rose an estimated 2.4% in 2025, according to the Rhodium Group, which cites higher natural gas prices, growth in power-hungry data centers, and a colder winter as key factors.