2025 Among Hottest Years as Climate Disasters Intensify

FILE - Grace Chyuwei pours water on Joe Chyuwei to help with the heat Aug. 3, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif.

Human-driven climate change has pushed 2025 into the ranks of the three hottest years on record, with the three-year global temperature average surpassing the 1.5°C limit set under the 2015 Paris Agreement for the first time, scientists said.

The findings, released Tuesday by World Weather Attribution researchers in Europe, come after a year marked by deadly and costly climate extremes worldwide. Temperatures remained unusually high despite the cooling effect of La Niña, with continued fossil fuel burning identified as the main driver.

“If we don’t stop burning fossil fuels very quickly, it will be very hard to keep that goal,” said Friederike Otto, co-founder of World Weather Attribution and climate scientist at Imperial College London.

The researchers reported that extreme weather killed thousands and caused billions of dollars in damage in 2025. They documented 157 severe extreme events globally, closely examining 22. Heat waves were the deadliest, some made up to 10 times more likely due to climate change.

Many of this year’s heat waves would have been nearly impossible without human-caused warming, highlighting sharply increased risks, Otto said. Other disasters included prolonged drought fueling wildfires in Greece and Turkey, deadly floods in Mexico, Super Typhoon Fung-wong displacing over a million in the Philippines, and monsoon-triggered floods and landslides in parts of India.

The report warns that increasing frequency and intensity of such events is pushing communities toward the limits of adaptation, where warning systems, resources, and recovery capacity may no longer suffice. Intensifying storms are also complicating forecasting and disaster response, with Hurricane Melissa overwhelming response efforts in Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti.

Global efforts to curb warming showed limited progress. UN climate talks in Brazil ended without a clear plan to phase out fossil fuels, although more funding was pledged to help vulnerable countries adapt. Experts now acknowledge that global warming is likely to exceed 1.5°C, though some believe reversing the trend is still possible.

Progress varies by country. China is expanding renewable energy but still relies heavily on coal. In Europe, extreme weather has increased pressure for climate action despite economic concerns, while the United States’ Trump administration continues to support fossil fuels over clean energy.

“Communities are increasingly facing unfamiliar and fast-intensifying disasters, requiring earlier warnings and new approaches to response and recovery,” said Andrew Kruczkiewicz, senior researcher at Columbia University’s Climate School. “On a global scale, progress is being made, but we must do more.”