According to the World Weather Organization (WMO), there is currently little room for optimism regarding the state of the global climate.
March 23, 2026, 06:49March 23, 2026, 06:49
The imbalance between the Earth’s energy intake and output is growing rapidly, as stated in the WMO report on the state of the climate in 2025.
Extreme weather phenomena are increasing around the globe (pictured: floods in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in November 2025).Image: keystone
Negative records are chasing each other when it comes to climate indicators. Temperatures are rising, the oceans are heating up, ice and glaciers are melting and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise.
“There is no denying that these indicators are not moving in a direction that gives cause for great hope,” said WMO deputy head Ko Barrett. UN Secretary General António Guterres spoke of a state of emergency:
“Planet Earth is being pushed to its limits.”
New: the energy balance
The WMO confirms that the years 2015 to 2025 were the hottest eleven-year period since measurements began. Last year was the second or third hottest year with an average temperature of 1.43 degrees above pre-industrial levels (1850 to 1900). 2024 was hotter: around 1.55 degrees.
The organization, which evaluates climate science from around the world, is the first to name the energy imbalance, which summarizes indicators such as temperatures, ice melt, greenhouse gas emissions and others.
In a stable climate, the energy intake from the sun and the release are balanced. But man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen to levels that the world has not seen in at least 800,000 years. This hinders the heat release.
Oceans are by far the largest energy stores
More than 91 percent of excess energy is stored in oceans, it said. The rate of ocean warming more than doubled between the periods 1960 to 2005 and 2005 to 2025. Five percent of the excess energy would be stored in soil, and a good 3 percent would go into melting ice. Only 1 percent goes to the increase in temperature on the earth’s surface.
Despite everything, she has hope, said WMO climate scientist Claire Ransom. If everyone thought there was nothing more they could do, emissions would continue to grow.
“On the other hand, if we can overcome despair (…), we can limit the extent of these drastic changes.”
It is clear: a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. For individuals, this means, for example: using renewable energies instead of those made from fossil fuels, taking trains more instead of flying, riding bikes more than cars, buying more local instead of exotic products. (sda/dpa)