First, the good news: 2025 was not the hottest year on record. Now the bad news: last year was the third hottest on record, just a hair behind 2023. More importantly, it caps three years when global temperatures have surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
The data, released by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Tuesday, suggest we stand on a climate precipice.
“These three years stand apart from those that came before,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, in a press conference on Monday.
