BibTex format
@article{Forster:2026:10.5194/essd-18-3889-2026,
author = {Forster, PM and Walsh, T and Smith, C and Lamb, WF and Lamboll, R and Cassou, C and Hauser, M and Hausfather, Z and Lee, JY and Palmer, MD and von, Schuckmann K and Slangen, ABA and Szopa, S and Trewin, B and Yun, J and Gillett, NP and Jenkins, S and Matthews, HD and Raghavan, K and Ribes, A and Rogelj, J and Rosen, D and Zhang, X and Allen, M and Andrew, RM and Atkinson, C and Betts, RA and Bombelli, A and Burgess, SN and Cheng, L and Claxton, HE and Friedlingstein, P and Frölicher, TL and Domingues, CM and Gasser, T and Gregory, CH and Hoesly, RM and Huppmann, D and Ishii, M and Kadow, C and Karwat, A and Kennedy, J and Killick, RE and Kovilakam, MVM and Krummel, PB and Lan, X and Lamarque, JF and Liné, A and Martín-Míguez, B and Monselesan, DP and Morice, C and Mühle, J and Mussak, P and Peters, GP and Pirani, A and Pongratz, J and Rigby, M and Rohde, R and Savita, A and Seneviratne, SI and Smith, SJ and Taha, G and Tassone, C and Thorne, P and Wells, C and Western, LM and van, der },
doi = {10.5194/essd-18-3889-2026},
journal = {Earth System Science Data},
pages = {3889--3933},
title = {Indicators of Global Climate Change 2025: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-3889-2026},
volume = {18},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - In a rapidly changing climate, evidence-based decision-making benefits from up-to-date and timely information. We track twelve key sets of indicators of the state of the climate system, closely following Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment report (AR6) methods, to produce our fourth annual publication. One of the indicators, the Earth's energy imbalance (EEI) provides a crucial integrative measure of the overall heating of the planet and the pace of climate change-this has more than doubled since the 1976–1995 period. A newly added indicator of temperature extremes, the number of days experiencing marine heatwaves, has more than tripled between 1991 and 2025. For the 2016–2025 decade average, observed warming relative to 1850–1900 was 1.26 [1.13 to 1.36] °C, of which 1.24 [1.0 to 1.5] °C was human-induced. Human-induced warming reached 1.37 °C relative to 1850–1900 in the year 2025, increasing at a rate of 0.27 [0.2–0.4] °C per decade over 2016–2025. This high rate of warming, which matches the all-time high seen last year in the instrumental record, was caused by a combination of greenhouse gas emissions being at an all-time high of 54.6 ± 5.5 GtCO<inf>2</inf>e yr<sup>−1</sup> over the last decade (2015–2024), as well as reductions in the strength of aerosol cooling. Despite this, there is evidence that CO<inf>2</inf> emission growth is slowing. The continuation of these annual updates could track decreases or increases in the rate of human influence and climatic changes presented here, reflecting the outcomes of societal choices during the critical 2020s decade. The data presented herein can provide a useful reference point for the drafting of the IPCC seventh assessment report. In total, we employ analysis from over 40 global datasets (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20499280, Smith et al., 2026a). Future monitoring of these indi
AU - Forster,PM
AU - Walsh,T
AU - Smith,C
AU - Lamb,WF
AU - Lamboll,R
AU - Cassou,C
AU - Hauser,M
AU - Hausfather,Z
AU - Lee,JY
AU - Palmer,MD
AU - von,Schuckmann K
AU - Slangen,ABA
AU - Szopa,S
AU - Trewin,B
AU - Yun,J
AU - Gillett,NP
AU - Jenkins,S
AU - Matthews,HD
AU - Raghavan,K
AU - Ribes,A
AU - Rogelj,J
AU - Rosen,D
AU - Zhang,X
AU - Allen,M
AU - Andrew,RM
AU - Atkinson,C
AU - Betts,RA
AU - Bombelli,A
AU - Burgess,SN
AU - Cheng,L
AU - Claxton,HE
AU - Friedlingstein,P
AU - Frölicher,TL
AU - Domingues,CM
AU - Gasser,T
AU - Gregory,CH
AU - Hoesly,RM
AU - Huppmann,D
AU - Ishii,M
AU - Kadow,C
AU - Karwat,A
AU - Kennedy,J
AU - Killick,RE
AU - Kovilakam,MVM
AU - Krummel,PB
AU - Lan,X
AU - Lamarque,JF
AU - Liné,A
AU - Martín-Míguez,B
AU - Monselesan,DP
AU - Morice,C
AU - Mühle,J
AU - Mussak,P
AU - Peters,GP
AU - Pirani,A
AU - Pongratz,J
AU - Rigby,M
AU - Rohde,R
AU - Savita,A
AU - Seneviratne,SI
AU - Smith,SJ
AU - Taha,G
AU - Tassone,C
AU - Thorne,P
AU - Wells,C
AU - Western,LM
AU - van,der Werf GR
AU - Wijffels,SE
AU - Zecchetto,M
AU - Zhong,J
AU - Zhang,XY
AU - Masson-Delmotte,V
AU - Zhai,P
DO - 10.5194/essd-18-3889-2026
EP - 3933
PY - 2026///
SN - 1866-3508
SP - 3889
TI - Indicators of Global Climate Change 2025: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence
T2 - Earth System Science Data
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-3889-2026
VL - 18
ER -