Overview
- The WMO’s State of the Global Climate 2025 report, which was released Monday, confirms the planet is retaining more heat than it releases and that 2015–2025 was the hottest 11-year stretch on record.
- For the first time the report tracks Earth’s energy imbalance as a core gauge, finding a steady rise since 1960 to a new high in 2025 as greenhouse gases trap more heat.
- About 91% of the excess heat went into the oceans and drove another record for ocean heat content in 2025, which scientists say locks in sea-level rise and deep-ocean warming for centuries to millennia.
- Arctic sea ice hovered at or near record lows, the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets lost mass, and extreme weather in 2025 caused thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damage, with added health risks from heat and dengue.
- La Niña kept 2025 slightly cooler than 2024 at about 1.43°C above pre-industrial levels, and WMO scientists say a possible El Niño later in 2026 could lift temperatures in 2027, while officials urge faster emissions cuts and wider use of early warnings to protect people.