Global average temperatures surged again in 2025, placing the year among the three warmest on record and underscoring the continuing acceleration of global warming, according to data released by the China Meteorological Administration's National Climate Center.
The global average surface temperature in 2025 was 1.4 C higher than the preindustrial level, defined as the 1850-1900 average, and 0.52 C above the 1991-2020 average, the data showed.
January 2025 recorded the highest global land surface temperature ever observed for that month, the center said. The period between 2023 and 2025 was the warmest such span on record.
Large parts of the world experienced near-record heat in 2025. Annual average temperatures ranked among the three highest on record across parts of eastern Asia, much of Central Asia, eastern Europe, parts of North America, most of Antarctica, and wide areas of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, with several core regions setting new heat records.
Polar regions continued to warm at an accelerated pace. The Arctic averaged 1.17 C above normal, the region's third-warmest year on record, while the Antarctic region averaged 0.43 C above normal.
The Third Pole region — encompassing high-altitude areas in and around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau — was 1.12 C above normal and set a temperature record for the fourth consecutive year, from 2022 to 2025, the center said.
The World Meteorological Organization is scheduled to release its global temperature figures for 2025 on Wednesday. According to its website, the agency said 2025 was on track to rank as the second — or third-warmest year on record.
China also recorded another exceptionally warm year. The national average temperature reached 11 C in 2025, exceeding the long-term average (1991-2020) by 1.1 C and surpassing the previous national record of 10.9 C set in 2024.
Most parts of the country were warmer than usual, and 16 provincial-level regions recorded their warmest year since 1961. China averaged 16.5 high-temperature days with daily highs of 35 C or above, the most on record and 7.4 days more than normal, according to the center.
The longest and most intense heat wave of the year lasted 71 days, from June 30 to Sept 9, ranking as the third-longest on record. Parts of the Yangtze River basin, southern China, Chongqing and southern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region experienced 30 to 50 days of extreme heat.
Late-season heat also affected parts of southern China in the autumn. Areas in the Yangtze River Delta and South China were hit by two prolonged heat waves in September and October.
In parts of Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, the number of high-temperature days exceeded 20 for the season, and 419 national weather stations set records for the latest occurrence of high temperatures.
China's coastal seas also recorded significantly elevated ocean heat content in 2025 compared with the 1981-2010 average, the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center said. The South China Sea reached a record high, and overall coastal heat content ranked second-highest on record.
The average sea surface temperature in China's coastal waters reached 21.05 C in 2025. Although that was 0.45 C lower than in 2024, it remained 0.76 C higher than the long-term average.
Warmer seas are linked to more frequent and intense extreme events, including typhoons and marine heat waves, the center said.
China experienced an unusually active typhoon season in the summer and autumn of 2025. A total of 19 storm surge events were recorded along the coast, exceeding the past decade's average of 15, the center said.
Direct economic losses from marine disasters were also higher than the 10-year average, as frequent typhoons and coastal flooding damaged infrastructure, fisheries and coastal industries.
The center said it will continue to closely monitor developments and issue timely updates, forecasts and warnings to help coastal regions bolster disaster preparedness.
