BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — THE impacts of climate change continue to be felt worldwide, with 2025 now confirmed as the third-hottest year on record, following 2024 and 2023.
According to the Global Climate Highlights 2025 report released today (Jan. 14) by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), global temperatures in 2025 were just 0.01°C cooler than in 2023 and 0.13°C cooler than in 2024, which remains the warmest year ever recorded.
The report, produced through ECMWF’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) on behalf of the European Commission, also noted that the past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record.
Researchers highlighted that average global temperatures over the three-year period from 2023 to 2025 exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900), marking the first time this threshold has been crossed over such a period.
Climate experts have long warned of these trends, noting that rising temperatures are leading to hotter days and warmer nights worldwide. In 2024, global temperatures surpassed those of 2023, setting a new record and reinforcing concerns about accelerating climate change.
The findings stand in contrast to the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, which seeks to keep global temperature increases well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
ECMWF Director-General Florian Pappenberger underscored the urgency of the findings, stating: “This report confirms that Europe and the world are in the warmest decade on record and that the European Commission’s investment in Copernicus continues to be critical."
It now remains to be seen how these rising temperatures will influence the commitment of global leaders to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Small states such as St. Kitts and Nevis, along with other Caribbean nations, continue to bear the brunt of climate change. From prolonged drought-like conditions to rising costs of operating electricity grids and increasingly intense storms, the region remains especially vulnerable to the forces of nature.
