2 min readUpdated: Mar 23, 2026 08:53 PM IST
The global climate is in a state of emergency as the earth is dealing with a record energy imbalance, the World Meteorological Ogranization (WMO) said in a report on Monday.
In its State of the Global Climate report 2025, WMO said that every key climate indicator is raising alarms and that the years from 2015 to 2025 have been the hottest 11 years. it also mentioned that 2025 was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 °C above the 1850-1900 average.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “The State of the Global Climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,” said The 2025 report for the first time included the earth’s energy imbalance as one of the key climate indicators.
How is energy balance measured, and how has it been hampered?
According to WMO, Earth’s energy balance measures the rate at which energy coming in and leaves the Earth system. Under a stable climate, energy received by the earth from the sun is almost the same as the amount of outgoing energy.
However, rising concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — to their maximum level in at least 800,000 years have upset this energy equilibrium on earth
Here are the alarming points the report mentions:
- 2015–2025 were the hottest eleven years on record
- The Ocean heat content (to a depth of 2,000 metres) in 2025 rose to the highest level since the start of records in 1960
- The global mean sea level was comparable to record-high levels in 2024
- The ocean absorbed around 29% of CO2 released from human activities between 2015–2024. This led to the continued decline in ocean surface pH. Global average ocean surface pH has declined over the past 41 years
- Glacier mass loss from reference glaciers in 2024/2025 hydrological year was among the five worst on recordThe annual average Arctic sea-ice extent for 2025 went down to be the lowest or second lowest on record in the satellite era (1979). Now, the average Antarctic sea-ice extent for 2025 was the third lowest after 2023 and 2024
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