WMO says Earth’s climate is increasingly out of balance
Climate indicators hit new extremes
The Earth’s climate is more out of balance than at any time in observed history, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s *State of the Global Climate 2025* report. The report says greenhouse gas concentrations are continuing to drive warming in the atmosphere and oceans and to accelerate melting of ice, with effects that will persist for hundreds to potentially thousands of years.
WMO said the period from 2015 to 2025 was the hottest 11-year span on record. It said 2025 was the second or third hottest year in the 176-year observational record, at about 1.43°C above the 1850–1900 average, while 2024 remained the warmest year at about 1.55°C above that baseline.
The report, released on World Meteorological Day under the theme “Observing Today, Protecting Tomorrow,” also introduced Earth’s energy imbalance as a key climate indicator for the first time. WMO said the imbalance, which measures the difference between energy entering and leaving the Earth system, has been rising since records began in 1960 and reached a new high in 2025.
Oceans absorb most of the excess heat
The report says increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have upset the planet’s natural energy equilibrium. Data from monitoring stations showed all three greenhouse gases continued to increase in 2025, while consolidated observations for 2024 showed carbon dioxide at its highest level in 2 million years and methane and nitrous oxide at their highest in at least 800,000 years.
More than 91% of the excess heat is being stored in the ocean, which WMO described as a major buffer against even higher temperatures on land. Ocean heat content reached a record high in 2025, and the rate of warming over 2005–2025 was more than double that seen from 1960–2005. The report said the ocean has absorbed energy equal to about 18 times annual human energy use each year over the past two decades.
Around 90% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave in 2025 despite La Niña conditions. WMO said ocean warming is contributing to biodiversity loss, degradation of marine ecosystems, a weakening ocean carbon sink, and stronger tropical and subtropical storms.
Ice loss, sea level rise and extreme weather impacts
The report said another 3% of excess energy is going into warming and melting ice. Greenland and Antarctica continued to lose ice mass, Arctic annual sea-ice extent in 2025 was the lowest or second lowest on record in the satellite era, and Antarctic sea-ice extent was the third lowest on record. Glacier melt also continued, with exceptional losses reported in Iceland and along the Pacific coast of North America.
Global mean sea level in 2025 remained near the record highs seen in 2024 and stood about 11 centimeters above the level recorded at the start of satellite measurements in 1993. WMO said the rate of sea-level rise since 2012 has been higher than in the earlier part of the satellite record.
Extreme weather in 2025, including heatwaves, wildfires, drought, tropical cyclones, storms and flooding, caused thousands of deaths, affected millions of people and led to billions of dollars in economic losses. The report’s supplement on extreme events said climate-related shocks are worsening food insecurity and displacement, especially in fragile and conflict-affected regions.
Health risks and long-term consequences
The report also highlighted growing health risks linked to rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more frequent extremes. It pointed to dengue as the world’s fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease and said heat stress is an increasing threat, with more than one-third of the global workforce facing workplace heat risk at some point each year.
WMO said only around half of countries, as of 2023, provide heat early warning services tailored to the health sector, and even fewer have fully integrated climate information into health decision-making. It called for closer integration of meteorological and climate data with health systems to support prevention rather than reactive response.
According to the report, ocean warming, sea-level rise and changes in deep ocean chemistry will continue for centuries, with some impacts irreversible on centennial to millennial time scales. WMO said the findings are intended to support decision-making by showing that observing today’s climate changes is essential to protecting the future.