Copernicus: Global Climate Highlights 2025.

The 25th edition from the Copernicus Climate Change Service was released this morning. Key messages:

• 2025 ranks as the third warmest year on record, following the unprecedented temperatures observed in 2023 and 2024
• 2025 was only marginally cooler than 2023, while 2024 remains the warmest year on record and the first year with an average temperature clearly exceeding 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level
• Globally, January 2025 was the warmest January on record. March, April and May were each the second warmest for the time of year.
• In 2025, annual surface air temperatures were above the 1991–2020 average across 91% of the globe, the same fraction as in 2024. Nearly half of the globe (48%) experienced much warmer than average annual temperatures.
• All regions –Arctic, Northern mid-latitudes, Tropics, Southern mid-latitudes and Antarctic– show a clear long-term warming trend.
• The global sea surface temperature remained historically high throughout 2025, despite the absence of El Niño conditions.
• The annual average sea surface temperature for 2025 was +0.38°C above the 1991–2020 average. It ranked as the third-highest on record.
• February saw the lowest global sea ice cover since the beginning of satellite observations in the late 1970s.
• In 2025, half of the globe experienced more days than average with at least strong heat stress (a feels-like temperature of 32°C or above)