World records 2nd-warmest April; Global temperature remains 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels
New Delhi (PTI): Last month was the second-warmest April globally, with the past 12 months being 1.58 degrees Celsius warmer than at the start of the industrial revolution, according to European climate agency Copernicus.
The agency said April's global average surface air temperature of 14.96 degrees Celsius was 0.60 degree Celsius above the 1991–2020 average for the month.
April 2025 was 0.07 degree Celsius cooler than April 2024 and 0.07 degree Celsius warmer than the third-warmest April recorded in 2016, it said.
"April 2025 was 1.51 degrees Celsius above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level. It was the 21st month in the last 22 months for which the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level," Copernicus said in a statement.
The 12-month period from May 2024 to April 2025 was 0.70 degree Celsius above the 1991-2020 average and 1.58 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, it said.
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of Copernicus Climate Change Service, said, "Globally, April 2025 was the second-hottest April on record, continuing the long sequence of months over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Continuous climate monitoring is an essential tool for understanding and responding to the ongoing changes in our climate system."
Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, have pumped large amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This has raised the planet's temperature, altered the climate, and led to more frequent and severe floods, droughts, storms and other extreme weather events.
At the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015, countries pledged to limit the average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The year 2024 was the first calendar year when the global average temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels.
However, a permanent breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius limit refers to long-term warming over a 20 or 30-year period.
Scientists at Copernicus said the average sea surface temperature (SST) for April 2025 was 20.89 degrees Celsius, the second-highest value on record for the month.
SSTs remained unusually high in many ocean basins and seas. Among them, large areas in the northeast North Atlantic continued to show record-high SSTs for the month.
Most of the Mediterranean Sea was much warmer than average, but not as record-breaking as in March. The Arctic sea ice extent was 3 per cent below average, the sixth lowest monthly extent for April in the 47-year satellite record, following four months with record low monthly values for the time of year.
The Antarctic sea ice extent was 10 per cent below average, making it the 10th lowest on record for the month.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
