SOUTH-EAST ASIA (dpa): The year 2025 remains on track to become one of the three hottest ever recorded, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Tuesday.
It is currently tied with 2023 as the second-hottest year on record, behind 2024, the agency said in its monthly report.
Last month was also the third-warmest November ever measured, with an average global temperature of 14.02 degrees Celsius and exceptionally high readings in regions such as the Arctic Ocean.
November temperatures were 1.54 degrees above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the 1.5-degree limit targeted in the Paris climate agreement.
While researchers do not expect 2025 alone to surpass that threshold, the average temperatures across 2023 to 2025 are likely to do so, which would be the first time for any three-year period.
"These milestones are not abstract," said Samantha Burgess, Copernicus' strategic lead for climate.
"They reflect the accelerating pace of climate change and the only way to mitigate future rising temperatures is to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions," she said.
For Europe, it was the fifth-warmest November on record, with an average temperature of 5.74 degrees.
While eastern Europe, the Balkans and Turkey saw unusually high temperatures, conditions in Scandinavia and southern Germany were comparatively cool.
Only three previous autumns in Europe have been as warm as this one. - dpa
