The European Copernicus Observatory and the Berkeley Earth Institute in the United States announced that 2025 was the third warmest year on record globally, predicting that 2026 would remain at historically high levels.
In its annual report, the Copernicus Observatory noted that global temperatures have remained at unprecedented levels for the past three years, exceeding pre-industrial levels (1850-1900) by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Separately, scientists from the Berkeley Earth Institute in the United States stated that "the sharp increase recorded between 2023 and 2025 was exceptional and indicates an accelerating pace of climate warming."
Many climate scientists and political leaders, as well as the United Nations, have publicly acknowledged since last year that warming will continue at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the most ambitious limit set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
With this threshold already reached three years ago, the Copernicus Climate Change Service predicts that the sustainable limit will be officially exceeded by the end of this decade, more than a decade earlier than initially projected.
There are no indications that 2026 will deviate from this trend.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, predicted that 2026 will be among the five warmest years on record, potentially matching 2025.
Study: 2025 will be the hottest year on record globally, and 2026 will be similar.
