2015–2025: hottest decade on record

WMO’s State of the Global Climate places 2025 at about 1.43 °C above the 1850–1900 baseline, a figure the agency uses to quantify proximity to long‑standing international targets. (wmo.int) For the first time the report treats Earth’s energy imbalance as a key indicator and finds it at its highest level in a 65‑year record; the ocean has been absorbing roughly 18 times the annual human energy use each year for the past two decades. (wmo.int) WMO flags atmospheric greenhouse‑gas concentrations at all‑time highs, reporting CO2, methane and nitrous‑oxide at levels not seen in at least 800,000 years, a driver the report links directly to recent heat and ocean records. (unognewsroom.org) Cryosphere indicators in the report show Arctic annual sea‑ice extent at or near record lows, Antarctic sea‑ice extent among the three lowest on record, and continued glacier mass loss—metrics WMO includes alongside ocean heat and sea‑level signals. (wmo.int) WMO documents that extreme weather in 2025 “caused disruption and devastation,” says impacts affected millions and “costs billions,” and external summaries note roughly 1.2 billion workers face annual heat‑stress exposure, a labor‑market metric linked to supply‑chain vulnerability. (wmo.int) Major risk framings from the World Economic Forum and industry analysts now put climate‑driven extreme losses at the center of underwriting, sovereign‑risk and capital‑allocation reassessments, a shift reflected in the WEF Global Risks Report 2026 and recent insurer outlooks. (weforum.org)