The past 11 years (2015 to 2025) are recorded as the warmest years in a 176-year observation.
This is according to researchers at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
In a report presented in Belem on Friday, researchers say the past three years have been the warmest years on record, with average near-surface temperature in January-August 2025, at 1.42 °C ± 0.12 °C, above the pre-industrial levels.
Concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases and ocean heat content, continue to rise in 2025.
Arctic sea ice extent after the winter freeze was the lowest on record and Antarctic sea ice extent tracked well below average throughout the year. The long-term sea level rise trend continued despite a small and temporary blip due to naturally occurring factors, said the report.
Weather and climate-related extreme events to August 2025 – ranging from devastating rainfall and flooding to brutal heat and wildfires – had cascading impacts on lives, livelihoods and food systems. This contributed to displacement across multiple regions, undermining sustainable development and economic progress.
Celeste Saulo, the Secretary-General of WMO, said “this unprecedented streak of high temperatures, combined with last year’s record increase in greenhouse gas levels, makes it clear that it will be virtually impossible to limit global warming to 1.5 °C in the next few years without temporarily overshooting this target. But the science is equally clear that it’s still entirely possible and essential to bring temperatures back down to 1.5 °C by the end of the century.”
WMO released the State of the Global Climate Update 2025 for the Summit at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP30, in Belem, Brazil.