The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has stated that the Earth’s climate is now more out of balance than at any time in observed history, as greenhouse gas concentrations drive continued warming of the atmosphere and ocean and melting of ice.

WMO’s State of the Global Climate report 2025 confirms that 2015-2025 are the hottest 11-years on record, and that 2025 was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 C above the 1850-1900 average. For the first time, the report also includes the Earth’s energy imbalance as one of the key climate indicators.

The Earth’s energy balance measures the rate at which energy enters and leaves the Earth system. Under a stable climate, incoming energy from the sun is about the same as the amount of outgoing energy. However, increasing concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are at their highest level in at least 800,000 years have upset this equilibrium.

“The State of the Global Climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,” commented UN secretary-general António Guterres.

The warming of the atmosphere including near the Earth’s surface (the temperatures that humans feel) represents just 1 per cent of the excess energy, whilst about 5 per cent is stored in the continental land masses. More than 91 per cent of the excess heat is stored in the ocean, which acts as a major buffer against higher temperatures on land. Ocean heat content reached a new record high in 2025 and its rate of warming more than doubled from 1960-2005 to 2005-2025.

The remaining 3 per cent of the excess energy is used up by warming and melting ice, both reducing a part of the balancing mechanism and also driving the long-term rise in global mean sea level, which has accelerated since satellite measurements began in 1993.

A supplement to the report provides a snapshot of extreme events, including climate-driven food insecurity; with cascading effects on social stability, migration and biosecurity through the spread of plant pests and animal diseases; and wide-ranging impacts on mortality, livelihoods, ecosystems and health systems, especially among vulnerable populations.

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