Climate Extremes in 2025 Exposed Inequalities and Limits to Adaptation: Report

The report says that reducing fossil fuel emissions remains the key policy to avoid the worst impacts of climate change

A new report found that climate change fuelled extreme weather in 2025, worsening heatwaves, droughts, storms, and wildfires, and pushing millions close to the ‘limits of adaptation’. The annual report by World Weather Attribution said global warming made 2025 one of the warmest years on record.

According to the report, heatwaves have become measurably more intense since the Paris Agreement was signed, with some events now up to ten times more likely to happen than in 2015. The report highlighted that despite being a year with La Niña conditions—a feature that is usually associated with colder equatorial Pacific ocean waters and milder global temperatures—this year will still be one of the hottest three ever recorded. The three-year average will also cross the 1.5°C threshold for the first time.

Extreme Events Disproportionately Affected Vulnerable Communities

The report revealed that these extreme events disproportionately affected vulnerable and marginalised communities. This inequality was also evident in climate science, where a lack of data and limitations in climate models hindered analyses of events in the Global South.

The report looked at 22 extreme events in 2025: three in Africa, seven in the Americas, five in Asia, six in Europe, and one in Oceania. Of those, 17 were made more severe or more likely due to climate change, and five had inconclusive results, mostly due to a lack of weather data and limitations in climate models.

While most heat-related deaths remain unreported, one study estimated that 24,400 died from a single summer heatwave in Europe this year, the report stated. Tropical cyclones and storms were also among the deadliest events of the year, including several simultaneous storms in Asia and Southeast Asia that killed more than 1,700 people and caused billions in damages. Hurricane Melissa also left a trail of destruction in Jamaica.

Sjoukje Philip, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), said, “The continuous rise in greenhouse gas emissions has pushed our climate into a new, more extreme state, where even small increases in global temperatures now trigger disproportionately severe impacts. These heatwaves, storms, and rainfall events we are witnessing today are far beyond what natural variability would predict.”

The report said that despite existing efforts to adapt, these events have continued to cause devastating loss of life and billions in economic damages in 2025, and to mitigate these impacts and reduce future risks in 2026 and beyond, a rapid transition away from fossil fuels is critical.

About The Author

Editorial Team

A team of handpicked and dedicated writers committed to fact check each climate-related statement. Go to the roots and intent of each policy implemented, internationally and at home to help you understand climate better

See author's posts