Last year was the third hottest on record, according to temperature data released Wednesday by three independent agencies. This places 2025 just behind 2023, the second-hottest year, and 2024, the hottest on record.
What makes this particularly notable, scientists say, is that 2025 experienced a cooling phase in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, known as La Niña, which typically lowers global temperatures. Despite this, greenhouse gas-driven warming was strong enough to keep the year among the warmest ever recorded.
“This is further evidence that human-caused warming is now strongly overriding natural year-to-year variability in the climate,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources division.(Agencies)
