The global hottest list no one wants to be on

Figures released by NASA overnight show that 2025 was the second hottest year on record. The three hottest years on record are 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In a world with ever more uncertainty, the one thing that we can unfortunately rely on is that the ever-increasing use of fossil fuels is driving up global temperatures. NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies estimates that global temperatures in 2025 were 1.44C above the pre-industrial average. This was down from the 1.53C record set in 2024, but just above the 2023 temperature anomaly of 1.42C.

Some other climate institutions are ranking 2025 as the third hottest year on record and 2023 as the second hottest – this is because different agencies use different methodologies. For example, the World Meteorological Society uses eight different datasets, two of which rank 2025 as the second hottest year, and six of which have it coming in third.

Either way the evidence is clear: global temperatures are rising, and we are perilously close to breaching the 1.5C above pre-industrial average that is essential to preventing more severe effects of climate change.

Thirteen of the 15 hottest year have been since 2011, and 1998 is the only year among the hottest 25 hottest not in the 21^st Century.

The problem is not just that temperatures are rising, but that they are rising faster than in the past. After a period of relatively stability, global temperatures really began to accelerate after 1965.

Between 1965 and 2010, temperatures generally rose within a band that suggested a linear increase. But, since 2015, what was once would have been a “peak hot year” is now a cold one.

Temperatures have been rising so fast in the past decade that for 2026 to be merely an average “peak hot year” there would need to be a historic drop in temperatures over the coming 12 months.

Higher global temperatures increase the chances of more server weather events including droughts and heatwaves, impact agriculture and food security, and can lead to the loss of species.

These recording-breaking increases highlight the urgency of climate action. The only way to prevent temperatures from continuing to grow is to limit greenhouse gas emissions. And the best way to do that is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

The Australia Institute has long called for an end to new coal and gas mines. The extreme temperatures of the past few years reinforce how urgently action is needed.