The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) stated Thursday that 2025 is most likely to be among the top three warmest years ever recorded, following the near-surface temperature recorded between January and August this year, which was 1.42 degree Celsius (a deviation of 0.12 degree Celsius) above the pre-industrial era.
Last year was the warmest on record, when the global average mean temperature was 1.55 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era.
The WMO stated that the concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases and ocean heat content in 2025 continued the rising trend observed last year. The Arctic Sea ice extent after the winter freeze was the lowest on record, and the Antarctic Sea ice extent tracked well below average throughout the year, so far.
“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,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in a statement released to the press.
The WMO report also stated that the period between 2015 and 2025 would have individually been the 11 warmest years in the 176-year observational record.
“The past three years have been the three warmest years on record,” WMO said.
