Global temperatures continue to soar

The recent Copernicus temperature graph clearly shows that our planet is continuing to heat rapidly. The three hottest years have been the last three; 2024 was the hottest, 2023 the second-hottest, and 2025 the third-hottest.

(See the Copernicus temperature graph for years 1940 to 2025: Copernicus: 14 Jan 2026)

To give this context, here is an old “Global Air Temperature” graph from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) covering 1880 to 2015.

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• This old graph showed an ominous rise in temperatures.
• 2015 was the hottest of those years. 2014 was the second hottest.
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• The Copernicus temperature graph up to 2025 fully vindicates these earlier concerns.
• Every year since 2015 has been hotter than 2015, some much higher.
• There is a link to this Copernicus graph above here.
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• The black line shows the “long-term trend” of the “average global air temperatures” between 1880 and 2015.

Generate the latest NOAA Temperature Graph

The Trump administration has removed or altered a lot of highly informative climate graphs and information from U.S. websites, so I have deleted links to many pages on sites, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC).

Current temperatures are dangerous

For over a decade, we have been experiencing significant impacts of this warming:

• Hotter weather with extended fire seasons
• Droughts, bushfires and floods are more frequent and intense
• The distribution of plants and animals is shifting towards the poles,
• The planet is losing ice
• The oceans are rising faster

The current temperatures and ongoing increases threaten life as we know it on planet Earth.

Related pages

Overview of evidence for climate change

Overview of the dangers of climate change

Created 2014; Updated 24 Jan 2026