Last month was the second hottest April on record, with global temperatures remaining above the critical 1.5°C threshold for global warming, scientists have reported.

According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), April 2025 was 0.6°C warmer than the 1991–2020 average for the month and 1.51°C above pre-industrial levels.

This marks the 21st of the past 22 months in which global average surface air temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The analysis, which drew on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations worldwide, revealed significant temperature trends.

It found that the average global temperature from May 2024 to April 2025 was 1.58°C above the pre-industrial baseline, defined as the 1850–1900 period.

This prolonged warming occurred despite the development of a La Niña pattern in the Pacific, which typically has a cooling effect on global temperatures.

Sea surface temperatures outside the polar regions averaged 20.89°C, making it the second hottest April for ocean temperatures, just behind the record set last year.

Across Europe, temperatures were mostly above average, with the most significant anomalies recorded in Eastern Europe, western Russia, Kazakhstan, and Norway.

The average land temperature for Europe was 9.38°C, 1.01°C above the 1991–2020 average, making it the sixth warmest April for the continent.

Warmer-than-average conditions were also observed across the Russian Far East, much of west-central Asia, most of North America, parts of Australia, and regions of Antarctica.

In contrast, cooler-than-average temperatures were seen in southern South America, eastern Canada (including the Great Lakes region and Hudson Bay), northeastern Greenland, northern Australia, and East Antarctica.

In the Arctic, sea ice extent was 3 per cent below average, the sixth lowest April extent in the 47-year satellite record, following four consecutive months of record lows for the time of year.

Antarctic sea ice extent was 10 per cent below average, ranking as the 10th lowest on record for April.

Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates C3S, stated, “Globally, April 2025 was the second hottest April on record, continuing the long sequence of months over 1.5°C above pre-industrial.

“Continuous climate monitoring is an essential tool for understanding and responding to the ongoing changes of our climate system.”

(dpa/NAN)