Global temperatures in 2025 were ranked as the third-highest on record, continuing a worrying trend of persistent and accelerating warming, according to the latest Global Climate Highlights report from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service
The Copernicus findings show how close recent years have come to breaking records and how rapidly the planet is approaching critical climate thresholds.
The data shows that 2025 was just 0.01°C cooler than 2023, while 2024 remains the warmest year ever documented. Together, the years from 2023 to 2025 form one of the hottest multi-year periods since modern temperature records began, with global averages far above long-term norms.
Europe and the poles see extreme conditions
Europe experienced its third-warmest year on record in 2025, reflecting a broader pattern of intensified warming across the continent. Heatwaves were more frequent and more severe, contributing to impacts on public health, ecosystems, and infrastructure.
Conditions at the Earth’s poles were particularly striking. Antarctica recorded its warmest annual temperature ever, raising concerns about ice-sheet stability and long-term sea-level rise. At the same time, the Arctic experienced its second-warmest year on record, continuing a trend of rapid warming that is occurring at more than twice the global average rate.
Air temperatures over land globally were the second-highest ever recorded, highlighting how warming is not limited to oceans but is strongly affecting regions where people live, farm, and build cities.
A narrowing window for climate targets
The Copernicus report, produced in coordination with the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation and national climate monitoring agencies, warns that current warming trends suggest the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C could be reached by the end of this decade. This is more than ten years earlier than projections made when the agreement was first signed.
Reaching this threshold does not mean immediate catastrophe, but it significantly increases the risk of more frequent and severe climate impacts, including heatwaves, droughts, floods, and ecosystem loss. Scientists stress that every fraction of a degree matters, and that rapid emissions reductions can still limit long-term damage.
What is driving the record heat?
Two main factors are behind the intense heat observed during the 2023–2025 period. The first is the continued accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Global emissions remain high, while natural carbon sinks, such as forests and soils, are under increasing stress and are absorbing less carbon dioxide than in the past.
The second factor is record-breaking sea-surface temperatures. Oceans have absorbed much of the excess heat generated by climate change, and long-term warming combined with strong weather patterns has pushed ocean temperatures to unprecedented levels. Warmer oceans, in turn, influence atmospheric conditions and help drive extreme weather on land.
Extreme weather becomes the new normal
The record temperatures of 2025 coincided with a series of extreme weather events worldwide. These included prolonged heatwaves, powerful storms, devastating wildfires, and heavy rainfall events that caused flooding in multiple regions. These events are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms.
The European Union continues to pursue its commitment to the Paris Agreement and aims to become climate-neutral by 2050. In 2025, the EU plans to present a new European framework for climate resilience and risk management, designed to better prepare communities, economies, and ecosystems for growing climate risks.
Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the EU Space Programme, plays a central role in tracking these changes. By providing consistent, high-quality data on the planet’s climate and environment, it supports informed decision-making and helps Europe and the world understand the scale and urgency of the climate challenge.
