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May 2025 Becomes Second-Warmest on Record as Global Temperature Briefly Dips Below 1.5°C

Scientists warn continued fossil fuel emissions will soon drive temperatures back above the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit

FILE - People climb to the top of what once was the Okjokull glacier, in Iceland, Aug. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
A man sits on a tangle of branches in the Sacramento River while staying cool during a heat wave in Sacramento, California, U.S. May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Fred Greaves/File Photo
Image
Smoke rises from the Hubert Lake wildfire WWF023, which forced the evacuation of the Hubert Lake Provincial Park area west of Fawcett, Alberta, Canada in an aerial photograph May 29, 2025. Alberta Wildfire/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Overview

  • The Copernicus Climate Change Service recorded May’s average surface air temperature at 15.79°C, 0.53°C above the 1991–2020 norm and 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels.
  • Last month’s readings interrupted a streak in which 21 of the previous 22 months registered global averages above the 1.5°C threshold.
  • Northwestern Europe saw its lowest spring precipitation and soil moisture since at least 1979, triggering drought concerns and early crop failures.
  • Dry conditions also prevailed across much of North America, the Horn of Africa and central Asia during May 2025.
  • Analysts attribute the persistent rise in temperatures and extreme weather patterns primarily to ongoing fossil fuel combustion.