The world experienced its second-warmest May on record, while the northern hemisphere saw its second-hottest spring (March to May), according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.The same agency reported that this April was also the second warmest on record, following the hottest March since global records began.In recent months, climate change has driven record-breaking heatwaves in Greenland, while many countries faced drought-like conditions and looming water shortages that could persist until substantial rainfall arrives this summer, a scientist said on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.New data released today by the EU’s climate monitoring agency shows that May 2025 was 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This marks the first time in 22 months that the global average temperature dropped below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.The good news is that this “breaks an unprecedentedly long sequence of months over 1.5C above pre-industrial [times],” said Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. However, he warned, “whilst this may offer a brief respite for the planet, we do expect the 1.5C threshold to be exceeded again in the near future due to the continued warming of the climate system,” as reported by Politico.The scientific body also noted that northwestern Europe experienced an “exceptionally dry spring,” with parts of the region recording the lowest precipitation and soil moisture levels since at least 1979. This resulted in the “lowest spring river flow across Europe since records began in 1992.”The continued use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas remains the primary driver of rising global temperatures. Under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, nations pledged to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and ideally under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.