Overview
- The Copernicus 2025 report finds a global mean surface-air temperature of 14.97°C, about 1.47°C above the pre‑industrial level, slightly below 2024 and 2023.
- For the first time, the 2023–2025 average exceeded 1.5°C above pre‑industrial levels, a milestone that signals growing risk though it does not constitute a formal Paris target breach.
- Copernicus attributes the exceptional warmth mainly to continued greenhouse-gas accumulation and elevated sea-surface temperatures influenced by El Niño and subsequent La Niña.
- Europe logged its third-warmest year at about 10.41°C, polar regions set or neared annual records, and roughly half of global land saw more days of strong heat stress alongside notable storms and wildfires.
- Sea-surface temperatures eased modestly from the late‑2023/early‑2024 peak, and scientists expect 2026 to rank among the five warmest years on record.