Overview
- The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate 2025 report, released Monday, says the planet’s energy imbalance hit a record in 2025 and that 2015–2025 was the hottest 11‑year period on record.
- The new indicator tracks the gap between solar energy entering Earth and heat escaping to space, with about 91% of the excess now stored in the oceans, which also set a new heat record and are driving faster sea‑level rise.
- WMO reports carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide reached at least 800,000‑year highs by 2024 and kept rising in 2025, while glaciers shrank, Arctic sea ice hovered near record lows, and the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets lost mass.
- Extreme heat, fires, floods, drought, storms, and tropical cyclones in 2025 caused thousands of deaths and billions in losses, including an estimated $60 billion from January wildfires in California.
- Scientists warn a possible return of El Niño later in 2026 could lift global temperatures again in 2027, as UN leaders press for faster decarbonization and wider early‑warning and health climate services.