Arctic ice extent after this winter has reached its lowest level in the history of satellite observations. 2025: a year of climate alarms and records Climate and Environment
In 2025, the planet continues to break temperature records. This year is likely to be the second or third warmest year on record, with the last 11 years – from 2015 to 2025 – already ranked as the hottest in 176 years, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) data released Thursday.
Air temperature
The average temperature on the Earth’s surface from January to August 2025 was 1.42 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is slightly lower than in 2024, when the influence of the El Niño atmospheric phenomenon was observed, but in general the heat does not recede.
From June 2023 to August 2025, almost every month set temperature records – with the exception of February 2025. Scientists attribute this not only to natural cycles, but also to increased aerosol production and other anthropological factors that increase warming.
Oceans and sea level
The oceans continue to store heat: more than 90 percent of excess energy caused by greenhouse gases goes there. This leads to the destruction of marine ecosystems, intensification of storms and accelerated melting of ice.
Sea level is growing faster and faster: if in the 1990s it rose by 2.1 mm per year, now it is already by 4.1 mm. A record level was recorded in 2024, which was temporarily lowered this year due to natural factors.
Ice extent and glaciers
Arctic ice extent after this winter reached its lowest level in the history of satellite observations. In Antarctica, the situation is also alarming: in 2025, the third rate of ice loss in the history of observations was recorded.
Global glaciers are losing mass for the third year in a row. They are estimated to have lost 450 gigatons of ice in 2023/2024, equivalent to 1.2 mm of sea level rise.
Greenhouse gases
Concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere reached record levels in 2024 and continue to grow. CO₂ levels are up 53 percent since pre-industrial times, the largest single-year increase on record.
Extreme Events
This year has brought devastating floods in Africa and Asia, wildfires in Europe and North America, and deadly tropical cyclones. These events hit the economy, food security and led to massive displacement of people.
Energy and climate services
The 2024 heat wave caused demand for electricity to jump by four percent above average and in some regions, such as central and southern Africa, by almost 30 percent. This underscores the need to integrate climate data into energy planning.
National weather services are increasingly involved in shaping climate policy. Now almost two-thirds of them provide not only basic forecasts, but in-depth analytical reports. Five years ago, only 35 percent had. It is especially important to accelerate progress in the least developed countries and on island territories, the WMO notes. actions
“We will no longer be able to prevent the threshold from being temporarily exceeded by 1.5 degrees,” stated WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, “but we must return temperature increases to below this level by the end of the century.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in turn, added: “Everyone a year with temperatures above one and a half degrees Celsius means a blow to the economy, increased inequality and irreversible losses. We need to act quickly, on a large scale and decisively.”