Paulo Ceppi
Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Department of Physics, Imperial College London
It's unlikely 2025 will be as hot as 2024, but people shouldn’t think that’s climate change hitting pause or plateauing.
There are ups and downs in global temperatures due to natural processes, like El Niño, and a small dip doesn’t change the clear upward trajectory we’re on.
The recent heat was exacerbated by a decrease in the amount of cloud and sea ice, causing Earth to absorb more sunlight. This confirms climate model predictions of melting sea ice and shrinking cloud cover as the world warms.
Countries have the power to bring global warming to a halt by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. This must happen as quickly as possible to give us some hope of preventing further global climate change catastrophes.