Copernicus: "Virtually Certain" That 2025 Will End Up As 2nd- Or 3rd-Hottest Year On Record
This year is “virtually certain” to end as the second- or third-hottest year on record, EU scientists have found, as climate breakdown continues to push the planet away from the stable conditions in which humanity evolved. Global temperatures from January to November were on average 1.48C higher than preindustrial levels, according to the Copernicus, the EU’s earth observation programme. It found the anomalies were so far identical to those recorded in 2023, which is the second-hottest year on record after 2024.
World leaders have promised to keep the planet from heating by 1.5C (2.7F) above preindustrial levels by the end of the century. Scientists interpret the temperature target as a 30-year average, leaving a sliver of hope for meeting the goal after a period of overshoot even as individual months and years begin to cross the threshold. “For November, global temperatures were 1.54C above preindustrial levels,” said Dr Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of Copernicus Climate Change Service. “The three-year average for 2023-2025 is on track to exceed 1.5C for the first time.”
The agency’s monthly bulletin found that last month was the third-warmest November globally, with “notably” warmer temperatures recorded across northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean. The month was marked by a series of dangerous weather events including cyclones and catastrophic floods that swept away lives and homes across south and south-east Asia.
Average temperatures have risen sharply as a result of the blanket of carbon pollution smothering the Earth, which has strengthened weather extremes from heatwaves to heavy rains, but continue to vary from year to year based on natural factors. Warming El Niño conditions boosted global temperatures during 2023 and 2024 but gave way to weakly cooling La Niña conditions in 2025.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/09/2025-virtually-certain-second-or-third-hottest-year-on-record-eu-data-coperincus