New report: Earth is out of balance
Exactly everything points in the wrong direction. Never before has the Earth's climate been so out of balance, warns the World Meteorological Organization WMO.
In this year's report, the WMO is including the Earth's energy balance as one of the most important climate indicators for the first time.
- It is another important indicator that gives us a picture of what is happening to the Earth's system, says Karina von Schuckmann, one of the scientists behind the report.
The Earth's temperature changes depending on how quickly energy is added to and leaves the system. In a stable climate, the energy that comes in from the sun is about the same as the energy that goes out.
The imbalance has increased since measurements began in 1960, especially in the last 20 years. It reached a new peak in 2025. Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are reducing the rate at which energy leaves the Earth system.
Pushed beyond limits
The report’s other indicators also paint a bleak picture.
“The Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. All major climate indicators are red,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a press release.
Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide reached their highest levels of 800,000 in 2024 – the most recent year for which globally compiled figures are available.
The past eleven years are also the warmest on record. 2025 was marginally cooler than the record year 2024 as the La Niña climate phenomenon temporarily brought lower temperatures.
The oceans, which act as a buffer against higher temperatures on land, are also warming. Ocean heat reached a new record high in 2025. At the same time, sea levels continue to rise and glaciers and sea ice disappear.
Causing chain reactions
The report also highlights how extreme weather as a result of climate change affects humans. When agriculture is affected, it causes chain reactions such as food shortages, social instability and migration.
Health risks such as heat stress are also increasing and the number of dengue fever infections is the highest ever reported, with about half the world's population at risk.
The report is based on scientific contributions from national meteorological and hydrological services, WMO regional climate centres, UN partners and additional experts.
Withdrawn funding for climate research and cuts to environmental budgets have not affected the data, says WMO Secretary-General Ko Barrett.
- The good news is that we have not seen a decrease in the inflow of data or observations. The traditional sources continue to be available and provide us with reliable data.
FACTS
From the report “State of the global climate 2025”
The imbalance in the Earth’s energy balance has increased since measurements began in 1960, especially in the last 20 years.
In 2024, methane and nitrous oxide levels reached their highest levels in the last 800,000 years.
The global average temperature in the last eleven years, 2015–2025, is the eleven warmest years on record.
In 2025, ocean heat reached its highest level since measurements began 66 years ago. The rate of warming in the last two decades has been more than twice as high as in the period 1960–2005.
The loss of glacier mass between September 2024 and August 2025 is among the five worst on record. The losses in Iceland and along the Pacific coast of North America are described as exceptionally large.
The annual average extent of sea ice in the Arctic in 2025 was the lowest or second lowest ever measured, while the extent in Antarctica was the second lowest ever observed.
The WMO is the UN's meteorological agency and has been publishing the "State of the global climate" report since the 1990s.
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