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3d ago

Second-Warmest May on Record Sees Arctic Heatwave and Accelerated Ice Melt

Scientists warn this brief dip below the 1.5°C warming threshold will quickly reverse due to rising greenhouse gas levels.

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
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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

  • Global average surface temperature in May 2025 reached 1.4°C above preindustrial levels, making it the second-warmest May since records began.
  • The figure interrupted a run of 21 out of 22 months above 1.5°C, but experts expect the threshold to be crossed again soon.
  • Human-caused warming drove record May heatwaves in Greenland and Iceland, with temperatures in some locations exceeding the monthly average by more than 10°C.
  • The Greenland ice sheet melted at seventeen times its average May rate during the heatwave, intensifying sea level rise risks.
  • Rapid ice loss threatens to slow the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and disrupt global climate patterns, while indigenous communities face new hazards from thawing ice.