Planet 'more out of balance'
The U.N. says Earth's climate is "more out of balance than at any time in recorded history," with the planet enduring the 11 hottest years on record and every major indicator—temperatures, sea level, ocean heat, ice loss—"flashing red." The report warns human-driven fossil fuel emissions have trapped unprecedented heat and urges immediate, transformative action as a new El Niño looms that could amplify food‑security and weather risks. (reuters.com) (nytimes.com)
WMO’s State of the Global Climate 2025 report added “Earth’s energy imbalance” as a key indicator and found that imbalance hit its highest level in at least a 65‑year record. (wmo.int) The report records 2025 as about 1.43°C above the 1850–1900 baseline and confirms the period 2015–2025 includes the 11 hottest years on record. (wmo.int) The WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows atmospheric CO₂ averaged 423.9±0.2 ppm in 2024, with methane at 1,942±2 ppb and nitrous oxide at 338.0±0.1 ppb — all unprecedented highs. (wmo.int) WMO quantifies ocean and cryosphere changes: the ocean has absorbed roughly 18 times the annual energy use of humanity each year for the past two decades, global mean sea level rose at ~4.75 mm/yr from 2012–2025 versus ~2.65 mm/yr in 1993–2011, and ocean heat content reached new records. (public.wmo.int) Operational forecasters now see rising El Niño odds — NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center put the chance of El Niño forming in June–August 2026 at about 62%, with many modelling centres flagging a likely persistence through the end of 2026. (cpc.ncep.noaa.gov) Reinsurers and risk analysts link the intensifying climate signals to rising costs: Swiss Re estimated insured natural‑catastrophe losses at roughly $107 billion in 2025 and projected broader economic losses around $220 billion, while Munich Re reported weather disasters accounted for the vast majority of 2025 losses. (swissre.com) UN food agencies and the WMO warn an El Niño would amplify agricultural and food‑security risks; FAO–WFP earlier identified 16 countries with worsening acute food insecurity and named six at highest risk — Haiti, Mali, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen. (fao.org)
