Climate Alarm: 2025 Confirmed as Hottest Year on Record, Scientists Say
Geneva / Global, January 12, 2026 — Climate scientists worldwide are raising growing alarm after multiple datasets and national monitoring agencies showed that 2025 was among the hottest years on record, with heat accumulating across land and oceans and pushing global temperatures far above historic norms.
Preliminary data released by meteorological organizations indicate that global average surface temperatures in 2025 remained extremely high, continuing a trend of unprecedented warmth seen over the past decade. The China Meteorological Administration reported that surface temperatures were significantly above the long-term average, underscoring a sustained pattern of global warming.
Experts also note that the world’s oceans absorbed record levels of heat, intensifying impacts on sea level rise, coral reef ecosystems, and extreme weather patterns. Ocean temperatures in 2025 reached levels higher than any previously recorded year, according to recent research, a trend that deepens concerns about long-term climate impacts.
Scientists measure global warming not only by atmospheric average temperatures but also through ocean heat content, which accounts for more than 90 % of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. These metrics are now reaching levels that climate researchers say are consistent with ongoing human-driven warming.
Across the Northern Hemisphere, individual nations saw record-breaking warmth. In the United Kingdom, the national weather service reported that 2025 was the hottest and sunniest year ever recorded, with prolonged heat-driven conditions impacting infrastructure, ecosystems, and public health.
While exact rankings vary depending on measurement and dataset, climate experts agree that 2025 will rank among the top three warmest years in the observational record, a continuation of a long-term trend tied to rising greenhouse gas emissions. The period from 2022 to 2025 now features prominently among the warmest years ever documented.
The implications of this heat extend beyond statistics. Warmer oceans and air can fuel more intense heatwaves, contribute to glacial melt, and increase the frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, wildfires, and hurricanes. Governments and climate agencies are calling for accelerated global action to reduce carbon emissions and strengthen climate resilience.
As nations prepare for upcoming climate negotiations and international policy reviews in 2026, scientists stress that the mounting heat trends are a clear signal of the urgency and scale of the climate crisis facing the planet.
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