The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed that the period between 2015 and 2025 marks the hottest decade on record, underscoring accelerating global warming and intensifying climate concerns.
In its State of the Global Climate report, the agency said the years 2015 to 2025 are the warmest 11-year period since records began in 1850.
The report found that 2025 ranked either as the second or third hottest year on record, with global temperatures reaching about 1.43 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This reinforces earlier findings that place 2025 among the three hottest years ever recorded.
It also confirmed that 2024 remains the hottest year on record, at approximately 1.55 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages, pushing the planet dangerously close to internationally agreed climate limits.
Reacting to the findings, Antonio Guterres said: “The state of the global climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,”
The report highlighted worsening environmental impacts, including glacier mass loss at key monitoring sites ranking among the five worst on record. Exceptional declines were recorded in Iceland and across North America, signalling rapid ice melt.
Under the Paris Agreement, governments committed to limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and ideally to 1.5 degrees. However, the latest data indicates the world is edging closer to breaching that critical threshold.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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