According to the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations assessments, 2025 is destined to be one of the top three hottest years on record. This reinforces the need for stronger international action to reduce greenhouse gases. 2025 also underscores the fact that climate change is accelerating at an alarming rate.
Preliminary global temperature data for 2025 show that this year was the second or third hottest year on record
2025 will be characterized by extreme weather events, unprecedented heat waves, and other extreme events. The world is experiencing a surge in temperature due in part to climate change caused by human activity and partly because of El Niño. El Niño caused global heat increases earlier in the year.
WMO reports that the global mean temperature is approximately 1.4 °C above pre-industrial levels. This is very close to the 1.5 °C threshold of the Paris Agreement.
The Secretary General of the WMO warns:
“These are still exceptional warming trends in the world that are pushing the world into unprecedented territory, and this will have far greater consequences on ecosystems and economies, and the effects will be devastating.”
This year has seen a sequence of extreme events
South Asia has experienced significant flooding. Africa is dealing with an extended drought. North America and Europe have gone up in flames with record-setting wildfires.
To make matters worse, Storms are stronger than ever due to the overheating of the oceans, throwing off the balance of ecosystems. Experts believe the oceans are in trouble after absorbing more than 90 percent of the additional heat, which will have devastating consequences on fishing and the sea economies.
The United Nations had to sound the alarm after hearing the WMO and stated 2025 is going to be a “wake-up call” to world leaders ahead of next year’s climate talks. In a statement, the UN, to climate leadership now gone rogue, said,
“This year’s data confirms what science has warned for decades. Without immediate and drastic reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases, we will be breaching thresholds on the climate critical to the future.”
Attention for the climate in the poorest part of the world
The UN report drew attention to the falling apart of the climate in the poorest part of the world, which has the least to do with emissions and pollution, while the richest countries complacently suffer devastating evacuations of their climate. The weaker economies of the world are increasingly at risk and have been clamoring for support in the loss & damage funds, climate finance for adaptation, and finance to support their increasingly vulnerable populations. Urgent climate actions in several areas must be taken as 2025 sees the highest temperatures recorded. Moving towards renewable energy and climate investments must come hand in hand with the elimination of fossil fuels.
“Every fraction of a degree matters,” according to one climate scientist. From the 1.5°C mark for global average temperature rise, we would see the point of no return for climate change, ice sheet collapse, loss of biodiversity, and a host of other consequences. There is a need for climate accountability and climate governance. Climate change should not be addressed as a voluntary task by any of the parties involved.
Climate change is inescapable and progressing. 2025 is approaching, and the consequences of climate change are visible and impacting our lives.
Scientists and policymakers tell us the climate change problem is urgent, and the time for pivots and alternative paths is over. Multiple global leaders have spoken of a need for incremental climate change adaptation. It is clear to everyone impacted by climate change, with no choice but to take adaptation steps, that these incremental actions must be replaced with something dramatically different.
