The world has just marked its eleventh consecutive year of record-breaking global warmth, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Wednesday, underscoring the accelerating pace of climate change. After reviewing eight international datasets, WMO confirmed that 2025 ranked among the three warmest years ever recorded, despite the presence of a cooling La Niña phase.
According to the agency, global average surface temperatures in 2025 were 1.44°C higher than the pre-industrial baseline of 1850 to 1900. Two datasets identified 2025 as the second warmest year in the 176-year temperature record, while the remaining six placed it third, highlighting the consistency of the warming trend across scientific measurements.
Although 2025 was marginally cooler than the three-year average recorded since 2023, WMO explained that this slight dip was partly due to La Niña, a natural climate pattern typically associated with lower global temperatures. However, the agency stressed that such temporary cooling does nothing to offset the long-term rise in global heat.
“The year 2025 started and ended with a cooling La Niña and yet it was still one of the warmest years on record globally because of the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
Persistently high temperatures on land and at sea continued to drive extreme weather events throughout the year, including intense heatwaves, heavy rainfall and deadly tropical cyclones. These impacts, WMO noted, further underline the urgency of strengthening early warning systems to protect lives and livelihoods.
Ocean temperatures also reached near-record levels in 2025, reflecting the long-term buildup of heat within the Earth’s climate system. WMO cited a separate study showing that around one-third of the global ocean surface ranked among its three warmest levels on record between 1958 and 2025, while nearly 57 per cent fell within the top five warmest conditions. Particularly affected regions included the tropical and South Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean, pointing to widespread and sustained ocean warming across multiple basins.
WMO said it will present a comprehensive assessment of climate indicators—including greenhouse gas concentrations, surface temperatures, ocean heat and long-term trends—in its State of the Global Climate 2025 report, scheduled for release in March.
