BRUSSELS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- 2025 is confirmed as the third-warmest year on record, with scientists warning the planet is likely to heat up sooner than previously thought, according to a report released on Wednesday.

In 2025, the global average temperature stood at 14.97 degrees Celsius, 0.13 degrees Celsius cooler than 2024, the warmest year on record, and just 0.01 degrees Celsius cooler than 2023, said the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) in the report.

This also marks the first time that global temperatures for the past three years (2023-2025) have averaged more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level (1850-1900), a critical threshold set by the Paris Agreement, according to C3S.

The Paris Agreement seeks to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, with an aspiration to cap it at 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.

The report attributed the temperature hikes over the past three years mainly to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and exceptionally high sea-surface temperatures, linked to an El Nino event and other ocean variability factors, amplified by climate change.

Utilizing several methods, the current level of long-term global warming is estimated to be around 1.4 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, according to the report.

Based on the current rate of warming, the report said that the Paris Agreement's limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius for long-term global warming could be reached by the end of this decade, about a decade earlier than initial projections under the agreement.

"The world is rapidly approaching the long-term temperature limit set by the Paris Agreement. We are bound to pass it," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the C3S.

Laurence Rouil, director of Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service at European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, called for attention to the issue, saying that the latest atmospheric data shows human activity remains the main driver of the exceptional temperatures. "The atmosphere is sending us a message, and we must listen."

Echoing that warning, Buontempo noted that the key question now is how to best manage the inevitable overshoot and its consequences on societies and natural systems. ■