Overview
- The Indicators of Global Climate Change update, published Thursday, June 11, 2026, found human activities raised global temperatures by about 1.37°C in 2025 and that continued emissions put a sustained 1.5°C breach within roughly four years.
- Global greenhouse-gas emissions reached record levels (about 56.8 billion tonnes CO2e in 2024) and the report estimates a remaining 1.5°C carbon budget of roughly 130 gigatonnes of CO2 from the start of 2026, which would be used up in about three years at current rates.
- Scientists report Earth’s energy imbalance is at a record high, meaning heat is accumulating in the climate system and driving faster ocean warming, more frequent marine heatwaves (65 days on average in 2025) and accelerating sea-level rise (about 23 cm since 1901).
- The authors warn critical observing systems are degrading because of funding and policy decisions, including recent removal of deep-sea instruments and cuts to monitoring programs, which would weaken the data needed to track changes and guide policy.
- The update draws on more than 40 satellite and in‑situ datasets and shows nearly all recent warming is human-caused, so future temperatures will depend largely on how quickly nations cut emissions and close the shrinking carbon budget.