A November global climate report revealed that 2025 will rank among the top three warmest years on record for Earth. It also highlighted several notable weather and climate events that occurred during our planet's third-warmest November on record.
The average global surface temperature was 2.12 degrees above the 20th-century average in November, according to a report released by the National Centers for Environmental Information. That means November 2025 was the third-warmest November on record.
The top ten warmest Novembers in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 176-year record have all happened since 2015. Unfortunately, the other two Novembers in the top three were 2023's and 2024's.
Just over 4% of the world's surface saw a record-high November temperature. That included small portions of North America, Asia, Australia, and Africa.
North America's departure from the temperature average in November was particularly large. The departure for the continent surpassed 5.4 degrees for only the second time on record. The temperature came within 0.11 degrees of November 2016's record.
The unusually warm November wrapped up an unusually warm meteorological fall. The average global surface temperature from September through November was also more than two degrees above the 20th-century average. That temperature made this past autumn the third warmest on record.
The ten warmest September–November stretches on record, dating back to when records began in 1850, have all occurred since 2015. And like November's records, the past three years top the list.
The NCEI's November global climate report also highlighted several extreme weather events. Many of them may have been supercharged by our overheating planet.
Those events included catastrophic flooding in southern Thailand that impacted nearly 3 million people and left at least 168 dead. The Philippines also endured deadly flooding in November from three consecutive typhoons that struck the region. Combined, typhoons Kalmaeigi, Fung-Wong, and Kota killed at least 233 people.
The flooding threat for millions of people in Asia's tropical maritime region is rising. Our warming world means heavier rain and higher floodwaters. These disasters are putting people in densely populated areas of Sri Lanka and the Malacca Strait at greater risk, according to scientists with World Weather Attribution.
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Very 😰 The Earth's warm last month of meteorological fall took a toll on sea ice. The November Arctic sea ice extent was the second-lowest on record. At the same time, the Antarctic's sea ice extent dipped to its fourth smallest on record.
2025 is almost undeniably among the top 5 warmest years on record for Earth. There is a 99.9% chance this year will rank that high, according to the NCEI report. The authors of the report also noted there is a "95% confidence interval of 2nd to 3rd warmest year on record."
This year follows the warmest year on record for both the planet and our country, which was observed in 2024. The top 10 warmest years on record globally have all occurred since 2015.
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