Home / Environment / 2025: Earth's Third Hottest Year, 1.5°C Warming Limit Breached
2025: Earth's Third Hottest Year, 1.5°C Warming Limit Breached
14 Jan
Summary
- 2025 recorded as third-warmest year, marking three consecutive years above 1.5°C.
- Global warming is now projected to exceed the 1.5°C Paris Agreement limit before 2030.
- Scientists warn of worsening extreme weather events and irreversible impacts.
In 2025, the planet experienced its third warmest year on record, with average temperatures now surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for an unprecedented three consecutive years. This marks the longest sustained period above this critical warming threshold since records began, according to EU scientists.
The data, confirmed by the UK Met Office, reveals that 2024 was the hottest year on record, with 2025 only marginally cooler. Scientists warn that the world is now on course to breach the 1.5°C limit stipulated in the 2015 Paris Agreement before 2030, a decade earlier than previously predicted.
Exceeding this warming limit, even temporarily, is expected to intensify extreme weather events such as heatwaves, storms, and floods. Wildfires in Europe produced record emissions in 2025, and specific events like Hurricane Melissa and floods in Pakistan were demonstrably worsened by climate change.
