On March 23, 2026, the World Meteorological Organization issued a stark warning that Earth’s climate has entered unprecedented territory, with heat accumulating at record rates and impacts expected to last for centuries, if not millennia.
The WMO’s annual State of the Global Climate report, highlighted by BBC and other global news outlets, shows a planet pushed far beyond its natural limits due to human-driven greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide.
The 11 hottest years on record have all occurred between 2015 and 2025, with 2025 ranking as the second or third warmest year since records began in 1850. The global average temperature last year was approximately 1.43 °C above pre-industrial levels, underscoring the relentless rise of planetary warming.
For the first time, the WMO introduced a comprehensive metric called Earth’s “energy imbalance,” showing that the planet is absorbing more heat than it emits due to record-high levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, disrupting the natural equilibrium.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in response to the report, “The global climate is in a state of emergency. Every key climate indicator is flashing red. Humanity has just endured the 11 hottest years on record. This is a call to act.”
The report notes that more than 91% of excess heat is absorbed by the world’s oceans, which reached a new record high in 2025. Ocean warming threatens marine ecosystems, accelerates biodiversity loss, reduces carbon absorption, intensifies storms, and contributes to polar ice loss.
Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have lost significant mass, while Arctic sea ice reached its lowest or second-lowest annual extent on record. Global mean sea level in 2025 was about 11 cm higher than in 1993, and the WMO projects that ocean warming and sea-level rise will continue for centuries, posing long-term risks to coastal and low-lying regions.
Prof. Celeste Saulo emphasized that human activities are increasingly disrupting natural equilibrium, and the consequences will be felt for hundreds or thousands of years. WMO scientist John Kennedy noted that recent heatwaves would have been “virtually impossible” without human-driven climate change.
The report also highlights the looming threat of El Niño, which could drive global temperatures even higher in 2027, compounding the effects of human-induced warming.
WMO Deputy Chief Ko Barrett described the outlook as “dire” but stressed that scientific evidence can guide urgent action, even as indicators show little sign of improvement.
Globally, the impacts are already evident: stronger storms, severe heatwaves, glacier melt, record-low sea ice, rising sea levels, and degradation of marine ecosystems threaten food security and biodiversity, reducing the planet’s resilience.
Secretary-General Guterres linked the climate crisis to global security, noting that fossil fuel dependency destabilizes both the climate and geopolitical stability. He urged accelerated transitions to renewable energy, warning, “Climate chaos is accelerating and delay is deadly.”
Despite the bleak outlook, the WMO and UN stress the importance of evidence-based policymaking and international cooperation. Prof. Saulo noted, “Scientific advances have improved our understanding of the energy imbalance, but knowledge alone is not enough—action must follow.”
The WMO and UN message is clear: the time for complacency has passed. Every fraction of a degree matters, and delays increase risks for current and future generations. The planet is flashing red, and the window for meaningful action is closing rapidly.
