UN issues new climate warning as El Niño looms

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 tothe WMO 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.

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But last year was still one of the three warmest years since records began. Many scientists now believe that warming is accelerating, although they say temperatures are broadly within the range of long-term predictions. And the WMO points to a wealth of other evidence showing that the climate is changing faster than we have ever seen before.

Perhaps the most comprehensive measure is the amount of extra heat energy being taken up by the Earth. This “energy imbalance” ultimately drives climate change and reached a new high last year, the WMO says.

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