Data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service indicates that October 2025 was one of the hottest months recorded globally. Predictions suggest that 2025 could be the second or third hottest year since records began, reflecting the accelerating pace of climate change and its severe implications for extreme weather events.
Data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union indicates that October 2025 was the third hottest month recorded globally. The World Meteorological Organization predicts that 2025 will likely rank as the second or third hottest year since records began.
October recorded an average surface air temperature of 15.14 degrees Celsius, which is 0.70 degrees Celsius above the average for the same month from 1991 to 2020, according to data that utilizes billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations worldwide.
Copernicus states that 2025 is almost certain to end as the second or third hottest year on record, possibly equaling 2023, which is currently the second hottest year, following 2024, the hottest year recorded.
According to Copernicus, these results reflect the accelerating pace of climate change, which raises global temperatures as burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. Additionally, global warming reduces low cloud cover, causing temperatures to rise.
October 2025 was only 0.16 degrees Celsius cooler than the same month in 2023, which was the hottest on record, and 0.11 degrees Celsius cooler than October 2024. The month was also 1.55 degrees Celsius higher than the estimated average temperatures for the period between 1850 and 1900, which is used to determine pre-industrial levels. This makes it the first month to exceed 1.50 degrees Celsius since April 2025.
While the entirety of 2025 may not reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, it is likely that the average global temperature for the period from 2023 to 2025 will exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold. According to Copernicus, this would make it the first three-year average to reach this level since weather records began, a period known as the “instrumental period,” which started in the 18th century when climate data began to be collected using scientific instruments.
The importance of the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold lies in its critical role in avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, as exceeding this limit significantly increases the risks of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and rising sea levels, potentially leading to global crises.
The 1.5 degrees Celsius target is a fundamental goal of the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to limit the rise in average global temperatures above pre-industrial levels.
Extreme Weather Events
Samantha Burgess, the climate strategy officer at Copernicus, stated, “We are now in the decade where we are likely to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, highlighting the accelerating pace of climate change and the urgent need for action.”
The World Meteorological Organization has also confirmed in its latest report on the global climate that the concerning trend of exceptional temperatures continues in 2025, which is on track to be the second or third hottest year on record since data collection began.
The organization noted that from 2015 to 2025, every year in the past eleven years has been, individually, the hottest year since temperature records began 176 years ago, with the last three years being the hottest on record.
The update mentioned that extreme weather and climate phenomena up to August 2025, from destructive rains and floods to extreme heat and wildfires, have had cascading effects on people’s lives, livelihoods, and food systems.
Professor Celeste Saulo, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, remarked, “This unprecedented series of high temperatures, along with the record increase in greenhouse gas levels last year, indicates that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius without exceeding this threshold for some time will be nearly impossible in the coming years.”
This data comes at a time when the global climate conference is being held in Brazil, which highlights efforts to keep global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. New national climate plans are expected to be unveiled, and progress on essential financial commitments made at last year’s climate conference in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, will be assessed.
The significance of climate change has grown over the past few decades, with increasing global temperatures leading to severe weather patterns. The Paris Agreement established a critical target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. As data continues to show rising temperatures, the urgency for global action has never been more pressing.
The period from 2015 to 2025 has been marked by unprecedented heat, with each year setting new records. This trend underscores the need for immediate and effective measures to combat climate change and its associated risks, including extreme weather events and their far.
