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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that Earth's climate is now more out of balance than at any point in observed history, driven by record-high greenhouse gas concentrations, rapid warming of the atmosphere and oceans, accelerating ice melt, and deeply disruptive extreme weather events.

The latest State of the Global Climate report (released on World Meteorological Day 2026) confirms that 2015–2025 was the hottest 11-year period ever recorded, with 2025 ranking as the second or third hottest year at around 1.43°C above pre-industrial levels.

WMO highlights that these climate-system changes-occurring within just a few decades-will have repercussions lasting hundreds to thousands of years, mainly due to the long-term impact on oceans, ice sheets, and sea levels.

Earth's energy imbalance hits record levels

• Earth is absorbing far more energy than it emits, reaching the highest imbalance in the 65-year observational record.
• This new indicator was included for the first time in the WMO report.
  
  

2015–2025: The hottest decade ever recorded

• All 11 years in this period were record hot, with 2025 at ~1.43°C above the 1850–1900 baseline.
• Extreme heat, rainfall, and tropical cyclones severely affected millions of people and caused billions in economic losses.
  
  

Oceans are warming at unprecedented rates

• Oceans are absorbing 18 times the annual human energy use every year for two decades.
• This fuels long-term sea-level rise, deoxygenation, and ecosystem disruption.
  
  

Sea ice and glaciers continue to decline rapidly

• Arctic sea ice at or near record lows; Antarctic sea ice at the third lowest on record.
• Glacier melt continues interminably, accelerating sea-level rise.
  
  

Every key climate indicator is "flashing red"

UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasizes an emergency: "Humanity has just endured the eleven hottest years on record. When history repeats itself eleven times, it is no longer a coincidence  it is a call to act."

6Climate disruption is already shaping global stability

Extreme events caused widespread damage and revealed the vulnerability of globally connected societies and economies.

Long-lasting consequences expected

WMO stresses these rapid climate shifts will influence Earth systems for centuries to millennia, even if emissions are reduced immediately.