By Ayomide Otitoju
The Earth trapped record levels of heat in 2025, with long-term consequences expected to last thousands of years, the United Nations warned Monday. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed in its State of the Global Climate report that the 11 hottest years on record have all occurred between 2015 and 2025.
Last year ranked as the second or third hottest on record, around 1.43°C above the 1850-1900 average. “The global climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The WMO’s report included, for the first time, a measurement of the planet’s energy imbalance—the difference between energy entering and leaving the Earth system. Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, “to their highest levels in at least 800,000 years,” have disrupted this balance, the Geneva-based agency said. “The Earth’s energy imbalance has increased since its observational record began in 1960, particularly in the past 20 years. It reached a new high in 2025,” WMO chief Celeste Saulo explained.
More than 91 percent of the excess heat is absorbed by the oceans, which reached a record high in 2025. The WMO highlighted that ocean warming accelerates tropical and subtropical storms, intensifies polar ice loss, degrades marine ecosystems, and reduces the ocean’s capacity to store carbon.
Both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have lost significant mass, while Arctic sea ice in 2025 was the lowest or second-lowest in the satellite era. Global mean sea levels rose roughly 11 centimetres above 1993 levels, when satellite altimetry records began.
WMO scientific officer John Kennedy noted that La Niña conditions, which typically cool surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, continued to influence global weather in 2025. With forecasts pointing to neutral conditions by mid-2026 and a potential El Niño developing later, Kennedy warned that “we’re likely to see maybe elevated temperatures again in 2027.”
WMO deputy chief Ko Barrett described the outlook as “dire,” urging policymakers and the public to act decisively. Guterres linked the climate crisis to global security risks, noting that reliance on fossil fuels exacerbates both environmental and geopolitical instability. “Today’s report should come with a warning label: climate chaos is accelerating and delay is deadly,” he said.
The report underscores that urgent global action is required as human activities continue to disrupt the Earth’s natural equilibrium, leaving future generations to contend with enduring consequences.
