This article documents notable events, research findings, scientific and technological advances, and human actions to measure, predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of global warming and climate change—during the year 2025.
Summaries
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Measurements and statistics
10 January: a summary from the Copernicus Climate Change Service stated that 2024 was the warmest year since records began in 1850, with an average global surface temperature reaching 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels, surpassing for the first time the 1.5°C warming target set by the Paris Agreement. The summary also stated that 2024 was the second consecutive year with the hottest global temperature, surpassing 2023 by +0.12°C.[1]
21 January: a study published in Nature Climate Change concluded that at least 30% of the Arctic has become a net source of carbon dioxide.[2]
28 January: a study published in Environmental Research Letters reported that global mean sea surface temperature increases had more than quadrupled, from 0.06°K per decade during 1985–89 to 0.27°K per decade for 2019–23, and projected that the increase inferred over the past 40 years would likely be exceeded within the next 20 years.[3]
6 January: a study published in Nature Climate Change stated that a fungal pathogen (Entomophaga maimaiga) that had successfully controlled the defoliation of the spongy moth in North American forests was becoming less effective due to climate change producing hotter, drier conditions. The study predicts this will lead to significantly decreased forest biodiversity and productivity by spongy moths, evidenced by recent increases in defoliation.[5]
8 January: a study published in Nature concluded that one-quarter of 23,496 decapod crustaceans, fishes and odonates studied, some of which provide climate change mitigation, are threatened with extinction.[6] One-fifth of threatened freshwater species are affected by climate change and severe weather events.[6]
9 January: a study published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment estimated that since the mid-twentieth century, global-averaged 3-month and 12-month "hydroclimate whiplash" events have increased by 31–66% and 8–31%, respectively.[7] Such increases amplify hazards associated with rapid swings between wet and dry states, including flash floods, wildfires, landslides and disease outbreaks.[7] (Hydroclimate volatility refers to "sudden, large and/or frequent transitions between very dry and very wet conditions".)[7]
Actions, and goal statements
Science and technology
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Political, economic, legal, and cultural actions
20 January: within hours of his inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the country from the 2015 Paris Agreement, joining only Iran, Libya and Yemen to become the only countries not party to the agreement.[8]
Mitigation goal statements
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Adaptation goal statements
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Consensus
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Projections
6 January: A study published in Scientific Reports comparing projected heat-related deaths from climate change with COVID-19 mortality rates across 38 global cities found that in half, annual heat-related deaths would likely exceed COVID-19 death rates within 10 years if global temperatures rise by 3.0°C above pre-industrial levels. The study projected that cities in North America and Europe, particularly in Mediterranean and Central European regions, would have most dramatic increases in projected heat mortality.[9]
3 February: climate risk financial modeling company First Street Foundation projected that by 2055, 70,026 U.S. neighborhoods (84% of all census tracts) may experience $1.47 trillion in net climate-related property value losses, citing insurance pressures and shifting consumer demand.[10]
Significant publications
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^Virkkala, Anna-Maria; Rogers, Brendan M.; Watts, Jennifer D.; Arndt, Kyle A.; et al. (21 January 2025). "Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake". Nature Climate Change. doi:10.1038/s41558-024-02234-5.
^Merchant, Christopher J.; Allan, Richard P.; Embury, Owen (28 January 2025). "Quantifying the acceleration of multidecadal global sea surface warming driven by Earth's energy imbalance". Environmental Research Letters. 20 (2): 024037. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/adaa8a.
^Starr, Aidan; Hall, Ian R.; Barker, Stephen; Nederbragt, Alexandra; Owen, Lindsey; Hemming, Sidney R. (1 January 2025). "Shifting Antarctic Circumpolar Current south of Africa over the past 1.9 million years". Science Advances. 11 (1). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adp1692. PMID39742497.
^ abcSwain, Daniel L.; Prein, Andreas F.; Abatzoglou, John T.; Albano, Christine M.; et al. (9 January 2025). "Hydroclimate volatility on a warming Earth". Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 6 (1): 35–50. Bibcode:2025NRvEE...6...35S. doi:10.1038/s43017-024-00624-z.
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