BBC-The Earth’s climate is further out of balance than at any time in recorded history, the UN’s weather agency has warned.
The World Meteorological Organization says that our planet is gaining much more heat energy than it can release, driven by emissions of warming gases such as carbon dioxide.
This record “energy imbalance” heated the ocean to new heights last year and continued to melt our planet’s ice caps.
And scientists fear that a natural warming phase called El Niño – expected to begin later this year – could soon bring further heat records.
In response to the report, UN Secretary General António Guterres reiterated his call for countries to move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy to “deliver climate security, energy security and national security”.
“Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,” he warned, in a typically punchy video address.
The last 11 years were the Earth’s 11 warmest years in records stretching back to 1850, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says.
In 2025, global average air temperatures were about 1.43C above those of “pre-industrial” times – before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels.
A temporary cooling from the natural La Niña weather pattern meant that 2025 was not quite as hot as 2024, which was boosted by the opposite El Niño phase.
