BRUSSELS - 2025 is expected to tie with 2023 as the second-warmest year on record, with last month ranking as the third-warmest November globally, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

"2025 is virtually certain to finish as the second- or third-warmest year on record," the European Union's climate monitor said.

From January to November, the global average temperature was 1.48 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial benchmark, identical to the level recorded for the full year of 2023, currently the second-warmest year after 2024, according to the C3S.

While 2025 itself may not reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level set in the Paris Agreement, the average global temperature for 2023-2025 is likely to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, marking the first time that a three-year period has done so in the record, the climate change service said.

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In November 2025 alone, the average global surface air temperature was 14.02 degrees Celsius, just 0.2 degrees cooler than the record November 2023 and 0.08 degrees cooler than November 2024, the C3S noted.

"These milestones are not abstract -- they reflect the accelerating pace of climate change and the only way to mitigate future rising temperatures is to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Sea surface temperatures also remained unusually high for November 2025 over latitudes from 60 degrees south to 60 degrees north at 20.42 degrees Celsius, the fourth-highest November value on record.

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Arctic sea ice extent was 12 percent below average, the second lowest for any November, while Antarctic sea ice measured 7 percent below average, the fourth-lowest for the month, the C3S said.