Hottest year on record for Zealandia prompts call to action from climate scientists
Aotearoa New Zealand has seen record high temperatures across many regions over the last week. This is not an isolated weather incident. In 2025 New Zealand’s overall combined land and sea temperatures were the hottest ever measured.
The data comes from a new report released by Dr Jim Salinger with Climate Club New Zealand’s Science Panel which considers temperature observations across Zealandia Te Riu-a-Māui.
The report highlights that 2025 recorded the highest average temperature in 151 years of continuous monitoring. All five of New Zealand’s hottest years have occurred since 2018.
“These aren’t just numbers on a page,” says Dr Salinger. “This is the story of how our climate is changing, written in one of the longest and most reliable temperature datasets in the Southern Hemisphere. What we’re seeing is an acceleration – the warming is speeding up, not slowing down.”
In response to the findings, three of Aotearoa’s leading independent climate scientists are issuing a nationwide challenge: as we head back to work and school this month, swap one car trip a week.
Transport accounts for 18.5% of Aotearoa’s gross emissions. Replacing one out of every 5 car trips with active transport is estimated to save 1.3 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, equal to the total annual greenhouse gas emissions of Fiji.
The nationwide challenge is issued by the Climate Club Science Panel, as part of their work to translate climate science into actionable guidance for New Zealanders.
“We hear from people all the time who feel overwhelmed and anxious, especially in the midst of heatwaves and news of the Australian bushfires,” says Emily Mabin Sutton, Chief Executive at Climate Club NZ.
“But doing nothing guarantees the warming continues. Taking just one action feels doable, and is how we move from anxiety to agency. And these small actions, when millions of us do them, create real change.”
New Zealanders can sign up to the Challenge at https://climateclub.nz/
Resources
The full technical report, “New Zealand Temperature Tracker 2025”, is available at:
https://climateclub.nz/
Sign up to the Challenge at https://climateclub.nz/
Worrying stats – so do read them! However, even when the worst disasters hit us, the ‘climate deniers’ will still claim it is just ‘routine weather’. They don’t actually have that much time to wait! We can’t expect to treat our world with such disdain without expecting a backlash – well it’s coming. If you are so dim-witted as to believe your wealth, position or place of abode are going to keep you safe, you are more than stupid. Our CoC is so thick it has even cut back our climate budget and bought helicopters etc. Of course they don’t give a damn about us – it’s all about sucking up to Trump’s USA! Harsh lessons will be learnt.