Overview
- The Indicators of Global Climate Change update shows 2025 global temperatures averaged about 1.39°C above the 1850–1900 baseline with roughly 1.37°C attributed to human activity, reinforcing that recent warming is primarily man-made.
- Researchers report that greenhouse gas emissions reached record levels in 2024 near 56.8 billion tonnes CO2‑equivalent and that current emissions trajectories make breaching 1.5°C likely in about four years unless emissions fall quickly.
- The study estimates a remaining 1.5°C carbon budget of roughly 130 gigatonnes of CO2 from the start of 2026 and says that at today’s emission rate this budget would be exhausted in roughly three years.
- Physical impacts are accelerating: global sea level rise reached about 23 cm since 1901, the annual rate of sea rise is increasing, and marine heatwave days have more than tripled since 1991 with an average of 65 days in 2025.
- Scientists warn that key Earth observation systems are degrading or under threat from funding and policy decisions, which could create data gaps and weaken the world’s ability to track warming and judge the effectiveness of emission cuts.